Cedar Port: Largest U.S. Industrial Park, With The Best Infrastructure

TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park is the largest master-planned, rail-and-barge-served industrial park in the U.S., offering industry-leading access for distribution, manufacturing and terminal users.

By the BF Staff
From the July/August 2021 Issue

Ideally situated in Baytown, TX across the Houston Ship Channel from Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals, TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park spans 15,000 acres with heavy utilities and industrial and commercial transportation infrastructure in place. TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park is the largest master-planned, rail-and-barge-served industrial park in the U.S., offering industry-leading access for distribution, manufacturing and terminal users.

With more than 11,000 acres available for sale, lease, build-to-suit and design builds, including in excess of three miles of barge depth waterfront, land sites at TGS Cedar Port are delivered “turn-key”—fully entitled with utilities and detention in place. Located in the Houston Industrial sector’s Southeast submarket, which has been one of the fastest-growing in all of Texas during the past six years, TGS Cedar Port is one of the largest intermodal transportation logistics facilities in the world, with more than 100 miles of dual-service operating track owned and operated within the park.

TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park
TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park

TGS Cedar Port is both barge-served and is dual served by the Union Pacific and the BNSF railroads, and can accommodate users from four acres to more than 1,500 acres. The Park offers access to trucking routes including Cedar Port Parkway and Interstate 10.

TGS Cedar Port currently has more than 16 million square feet of industrial and manufacturing warehouses that are either existing or under construction. Recent developments at Cedar Port include a new 298,000-square-foot cold storage facility and a 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center.

Last month, Blackline Cold Storage LLC and affiliates held a groundbreaking ceremony at the 36-acre site of their new cold storage facility, to be owned in partnership with Artemis Real Estate Partners. The facility will provide approximately 70 new jobs to the area when the first phase of construction is complete on the TGS Cedar Port site.

The rail-connected site is strategically located within the heavy-haul corridor in close proximity to the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals, with convenient access to the regional interstate highway system. The Blackline site offers ample land for a phased expansion of up to 650,800 square feet at full buildout.

“The need for cold storage in Houston is growing like crazy,” said Mike Day, CEO of Blackline Cold Storage. “The import/export trade through Port Houston is growing. There’s a big need for import/export of all goods, including cold products.”

Floor and Décor Outlets of America Inc. is building a 1.5 million-square-foot cross dock distribution center in TGS Cedar Port that will service the south-central United States. The center is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

“The decision of Floor & Décor to locate in Cedar Port for their regional distribution site follows a trend for larger retailers and eCommerce tenants to choose Cedar Port Industrial Park as their large-scale distribution home,” said William F. Scott, Cedar Port managing partner. “This in turn continues to fuel our growth, allowing us to further enhance our infrastructure and fuel the partnership’s commitment to invest hundreds of millions of dollars on capital improvements in the largest industrial park in North America.”

A $250 Million Investment in Infrastructure

TGS provided rail services to Cedar Crossing—the development’s original name—for 15 years before purchasing it in 2014 and renaming it Cedar Port.

“Since acquiring TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park in 2014, Cedar Port Partners’ vision has been to create the railroad infrastructure and operations capability to serve the greater Houston market, as well as the nation,” said James Scott, president of Construction and Infrastructure of TGS Cedar Port Partners, L.P.

TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park
Walmart, PBP Avera distribution centers

“Cedar Port has a global reach supported by the two Port of Houston world-class container ports near the park. By the end of 2021, Cedar Port will have constructed over $250 million in rail, roadway, barge terminal, drainage and utility infrastructure,” Scott said.

TGS Cedar Port—located in the Houston Industrial sector’s Southeast submarket, which has been one of the fastest-growing in all of Texas during the past six years—is one of the largest intermodal transportation logistics facilities in the world, with more than 100 miles of dual service operating track owned and operated within the park.

The mainline rail service at the park is provided by Union Pacific and BNSF Railway. TGS operates and oversees rail service within the park and can tailor operations to customer needs.

The current storage capacity at Cedar Port is 4,000 railcars (expanding to over 5,000). The current rail infrastructure includes the Union Pacific and BNSF interchange yard, which can interchange six 135-car trains; has the capability to handle 286,000-lb. railcars; and offers rail-served aggregates, asphalt and ready mix plants; rail-served warehousing, steel mills, chemical plants and other industries. Both operators share track rights to the industrial rail spur entering the park, and the Union Pacific and BNSF operate nearby intermodal facilities in Harris County. The infrastructure also includes a locomotive repair facility and railcar transloading, cleaning and repair facilities.

These railroad connections move plastics and petrochemical products both inbound and outbound; Cedar Port also receives inbound limestone aggregates used in construction projects across the region.

A short barge trip from Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals, the industrial park has an existing barge dock along Cedar Bayou, on the western boundary of the park with a draft depth of 12 feet. The dock is currently being used by tenants within the park, but excess capacity remains. An additional barge dock for the industrial park will be constructed adjacent to the existing dock.

The park boasts a combination of more than 12 million square feet of new speculative cross-dock and rail-served facilities and existing industrial and manufacturing warehouses. Available incentives include tax abatements, workforce training funds, Foreign Trade Zone designation and financing for infrastructure development and site improvements.

Sites are typically delivered turn-key, net of detention, and outside of 500-year flood plain. Other improvements typically include heavy-haul road, potable water and sanitary sewer. Multiple telecommunications services are available, and industrial sized electrical is located throughout the Park.

TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park
Blackline Cold Storage groundbreaking ceremony

Five roads have access into the industrial park, including the new master-planned Cedar Port Parkway, a heavy haul-rated roadway now under construction.

Cedar Port Industrial Park has a plethora of industrial pipeline infrastructure in the park that can be used to transport both feedstocks (commodities including crude, ethane, ethylene and refined products) or finished goods.

TGS Cedar Port is being marketed by John Simons, Joel Michael and Holden Rushing of NAI Partners, the 5th-largest commercial real estate services firm in Houston, and the largest and only independently-owned brokerage in the top five.

“We are now in a position to create development solutions for a wide range of links in the supply chain, from rail-served bulk goods and manufacturing through distribution space and eCommerce/retail delivery,” says John Simons, partner with NAI Partners.

Warehousing and distribution players with facilities at Cedar Port include Walmart, Home Depot, Ikea, DHL, JSW Steel, Hunt Southwest, Avera, Black Creek, Clay Construction, NIT Industrial, Harcros Chemical, Ipsco and W8 Shipping.

Available incentives include tax abatements, workforce training funds, Foreign Trade Zone designation and financing for infrastructure development and site improvements.

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