Hazelwood Logistics Center offers rebirth for suburban St. Louis community

JLL’s David Branding can point to several things to highlight the success of Hazelwood Logistics Center in suburban St. Louis, but one result makes this project particularly unique.

“I've been doing industrial real estate for 15 years,” said Branding, Managing Director for JLL. “In those 15 years, I've not been involved with a more successful development that has leased in as short a period of time as Hazelwood Logistics Center.”

In just under two years, Hazelwood Logistics Center grew from an abandoned industrial site into 1.8 million square feet of fully occupied industrial space. The development brought more than 1,800 jobs and $109 million in capital investment into an area that was previously struggling to find traction.

“If you know anything about the city of Hazelwood, they've lost their Ford plant and they lost 4,000 jobs,” said Brent Miles, Vice President for NorthPoint Development. “And so they were eager to say, we need to rebuild our local Hazelwood economy and we need jobs.”

The area sits located near Interstate 270, I-170, I-70 and St. Louis Lambert International Airport. That mix offered a stable future for the city of Hazelwood, according to City Manager Matt Zimmerman.

“Before the entire industrial park was developed, it was actually an old, very rundown area and a lot of people used it as a dumping ground,” Zimmerman said. “I think we're really the perfect mix in terms of whatever your transportation needs may be.”

The potential was always there, but it took NorthPoint Development to see it. The real estate development, management and leasing firm delivered its first building in May 2016. In the next 26 months, seven more were delivered and leased.

“I really think this park has put the city back on the map,” Branding said. “It has re-established it as the leader that it really always has been for probably jobs and business development. I think the outlook for Hazelwood is very positive.”