A&R Logistics’ $90M Global Export Headquarters is Lead Project in The Broe Group’s Savannah Gateway Industrial Park

SAVANNAH, GA – A logistics company that transports plastic pellets overseas will be the first tenant in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub (SGIH), a master-planned, 2,750-acre industrial park with the capacity to accommodate up to 18 million SF of industrial space. OmniTRAX is the master developer of the industrial park owned by Effingham County Industrial Development Authority (ECIDA).

OmniTRAX will spend $92 million constructing the building and rail yard, to be finished by the end of 2020. The 12-year A&R lease secures approximately 610,000 SF of the park’s initial one-million square foot build-to-suit project and includes an option to lease the remaining space.

A&R Logistics, based in Louisville, Kentucky, will move plastic pellets, the size of BBs in and out of the site. The pellets will come by rail from Houston and Louisiana on the CSX rail line and A&R will put them in silos before encasing them in large packages that will be sent by rail to the ports.

The state-of-the-art facility with the latest, top-of-the-line equipment, will house a multi-line production center to support its logistics operations that serve leading plastics producers worldwide. A&R’s global export operations will include receipt of inbound materials, packaging and outbound shipment to international destinations.

“A&R will offer a variety of packaging solutions and complete logistics services, including dual service rail, for customers shipping product out of the Port of Savannah to China, Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa,” a news release announcing the deal said.

Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said the expansion of A&R’s resin handling infrastructure will bring significant new export volumes to the port’s container trade. “The growing output of refineries in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Canada will require alternate export capacity, and the Port of Savannah stands ready to serve that need,” he said.

“The project includes building Georgia’s first industrial switching railroad with dual Class 1 connections in more than 50 years and will help us drive Effingham County growth for many years to come,” said Reagan Shanley, executive vice president of the Broe Real Estate Group, which is leading the project with OmniTRAX.

In addition to the build-to-suit A&R facility, OmniTRAX will construct more than seven miles of park-serving rail infrastructure, a multi-customer centrally located OmniTRAX rail yard and a 200+ car dedicated rail yard for A&R. This rail infrastructure will connect SGIH tenants to the only two Class I railroads serving the southeastern United States – CSX and Norfolk Southern. With its strategic location near both the Class 1’s and the Port of Savannah, SGIH optimizes logistics efficiency to deliver tenants some of the lowest operational costs in the country. Completion of the project construction and development is forecasted for Q4 2020.

“Our customers are some of the largest chemical companies in world with very complex supply chain requirements,” said A&R Logistics president and CEO Mark Holden. “SGIH’s dual-served park provides the ideal site and service to support our customers’ needs.”

About OmniTRAX, Inc.
As one of North America’s largest and fastest growing private railroad and transportation management companies, OmniTRAX’s core capabilities range from providing transportation and supply chain management services to railroad and port companies, to providing intermodal and industrial switching operations to railroads, ports and a diverse group of industrial companies. Through its affiliation with The Broe Group and its portfolio of managed companies, OmniTRAX also has the unique capability of offering specialized industrial development and real estate solutions, both on and off the rail network managed by OmniTRAX.

About The Broe Group
Based in Denver, The Broe Group and its affiliates form a privately-owned, multi-billion-dollar real estate, transportation, energy and investment organization with assets owned and managed across North America. Together, Broe managed companies employ more than 1,000 people and support employment of thousands of others through operations such as its Great Western Industrial Park in Northern Colorado. Its transportation affiliate, OmniTRAX, Inc., is one of North America’s largest private railroad and transportation management companies specializing in: management services, railroad and port services, intermodal solutions and industrial switching operations. Its energy affiliates include Great Western Petroleum LLC, the largest private operator in the third most prolific U.S. basin. Broe Real Estate Group acquires, develops and manages office and industrial properties, medical office buildings and multi-family communities across the country, including premier assets in many of the most desirable markets. The Broe Group also has multiple investment affiliates, including Three Leaf Ventures, which is focused on innovative healthcare technology start-ups.

About A&R Logistics
A&R Logistics is a leading supply chain services company providing dry bulk transportation, warehousing, packaging, third-party logistics and export solutions. For over 40 years A&R has provided bulk logistics services for customers in the chemical and plastics industries. The largest dry bulk carrier in North America, A&R has over 1,000 employees across the nation. Its corporate headquarters are Louisville, Kentucky, commercial headquarters are in Houston, Texas, and customer service headquarters are in Morris, Illinois.