EL PASO, Texas  – CBRE and ViaWest Group announce continued leasing activity at Merchant Industrial, a 245,745-sq.-ft., multi-tenant industrial park in El Paso, Texas.

Jichasa, a trade and door-to-door logistics services firm, leased 81,556 sq. ft., which included a 40,400-sq.-ft. expansion. This marks the second time the El Paso-based firm has doubled in size at the property in as many years. The firm has provided logistics operations and distribution of product across the sister cities of El Paso and Cd. Juárez for more than a decade. Jichasa’s El Paso operations support a powdered milk supplier in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company is also involved in facilitating the transfer and storage between multinational companies, which include companies dedicated to the manufacturing industry.

Tennessee-based Roane Transportation also leased 25,000-sq.-ft. The company provides warehousing and transportation services for the maquiladora industry, thus the property’s fenced and secure truck court, access to Interstate 10 and dock door ratio were all attractive characteristics.

”We are thrilled to have the capacity for both growth and expansion in the project between our new tenant, Roane, and our current tenant, Jichasa,” said Clare Lydon, real estate manager of the project with ViaWest Group. “We have worked diligently to create a product that would be well received in the market and we are happy to see those efforts pay off through our partnership with these tenants.”

Arturo De la Mora of CBRE’s Industrial & Logistics division in El Paso represented the landlord, ViaWest Group.

“Occupancy at Merchant Industrial is 94 percent, up from approximately 50 percent when ViaWest acquired the properties in 2015,” said Mr. De la Mora. “Repositioning efforts and healthy overall market activity are supporting the activity and continued interest from existing and new tenants.”