ThisWeek CW 10/02/2014
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/09/29/developer-plans-second-warehouse-on-rohr-road.html
Groveport City Council has agreed to rezone approximately 10 acres so VanTrust Real Estate LLC can increase the size of its new industrial project on Rohr Road.
Council agreed to the rezoning Sept. 22 after a brief public hearing. Council also approved several zoning variances and changes to the development plan.
VanTrust broke ground in April for a project the company has named Rickenbacker 717.
Original plans called for construction of a 717,717-square-foot bulk distribution center at 3099 Rohr Road, near Rickenbacker Airport.
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority sold the 60-acre site to VanTrust for $4.6 million.
The rezoning approved by Groveport City Council adds approximately 10 acres east of the site to the project area.
Groveport Law Director Kevin Shannon said the three parcels that make up the 10-acre addition had previously been approved for annexation into the city, but required a rezoning from agricultural to planned industrial before VanTrust could move forward with its plans to build a second warehouse of approximately 700,000 square feet.
“The original 60-acre site off of Rohr Road … is where we want to bring in this additional 10 acres,” VanTrust Real Estate spokesman Raif Webster said. “This doesn’t change the current plan by much, other than to provide the ability to create a little bit wider second building, which is more marketable to what our clients want.”
Councilman Ed Dildine questioned what impact the larger industrial site would have on traffic and asked if additional access would be a part of the updated development plan.
“What we’ve contemplated with the previous development plan was a total of three curb cuts — one to the far west of the site to serve the western side of the first warehouse, one in the middle that will serve both buildings, and then one to the east to serve this second phase building,” Webster said.
“With the new warehouse to the east growing, we’ve agreed to complete a traffic study and we’re working with the city engineer now to see how that goes.”
According to Webster, a tenant for the first warehouse has not yet been secured, but the company hopes to have one soon.
“Currently, our first building is being built on spec and we don’t have a tenant yet, so this second building will be dependent on the build-out of the first and getting some interest there,” he said.
VanTrust Real Estate LLC is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., with regional offices in Columbus, Houston, Dallas and Phoenix.
According to the company’s website, construction of the first warehouse in the Rickenbacker 717 project should be finished in December.