A new project by Saxum Real Estate and Penwood Real Estate Investment Management LLC calls for bringing a two-building, 166,000-square-foot industrial campus to a 13.37-acre site at 203 Church Road in North Wales, Pennsylvania. — Courtesy: Saxum
By Joshua Burd
Saxum Real Estate and Penwood Real Estate Investment Management LLC are expanding their partnership with a newly announced, 166,000-square-foot industrial project in Pennsylvania.
According to a news release, the firms expect to start construction in the fourth quarter on the two-building project in the North Wales section of Upper Gwynedd Township. That follows the acquisition of the 13.37-acre site by Summit-based Saxum and Penwood’s seventh value-added investment vehicle, Penwood Select Industrial Partners VII LP, which now plan to demolish an obsolete 33,600-square-foot industrial building to make way for the new development.
The speculative project, which includes modern mid-bay buildings of 96,000 and 70,000 square feet, is slated for completion in late 2026.
“We’re proud to deliver modern logistics space that meets the needs of small and mid-sized users — a segment long underserved in this market,” said Steve Feinberg, Saxum’s director of investments for industrial. “This project underscores our deepening partnership with Penwood and our commitment to developing state-of-the-art, purpose-built industrial product.”
The building features will include 36-foot clear ceiling heights, robust power, functional dock ratios and efficient demising flexibility, which the firms say will position the project to capture robust demand from logistics, manufacturing and service-related users. They also expect to leverage the site’s proximity to Merck’s U.S. global manufacturing and research and development hub, which could create significant spillover demand from corporate suppliers and affiliates.
The project marks the second joint venture between Saxum and Penwood, following their successful acquisition of 7 Campus Drive in Parsippany as part of a plan to build a new 128,000-square-foot speculative warehouse just north of Route 10. The Flynn Co. team led by Mike Borski, Mark Pawlowski and Kevin Flynn represented the seller in the latest transaction.
“We look forward to developing another project with the Saxum team and working with The Flynn Company to lease these mid-bay units,” said Andrew MacDonald, senior vice president for acquisitions at Penwood. “Industrial users are focused on a flight to quality in terms of their real estate requirements in order to improve operational efficiencies and bottom-line profits, and our strategy for this development is to capture that pent-up demand.”
Saxum and Penwood added that the site’s proximity to Route 309 and the northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike gives it direct access to Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley and regional distribution hubs. And the project will be a departure from most of the region’s recent deliveries, which have targeted large-bay tenants, providing purpose-built mid-bay multitenant space with efficient building depths and demising flexibility to accommodate smaller suite sizes ranging from 19,000 to 96,000 square feet.
Saxum, Penwood eye new warehouse project in Parsippany after buying vacant office building
