VanTrust Real Estate, LLC will break ground in April on a 621,874-square-foot speculative industrial building in the East Dallas suburb of Forney. Located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and South Gateway Boulevard, the Forney Distribution Center will tap into the industrial market that continues to boom in Kaufman County. At year-end, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex continued to see positive industrial absorption, with demand in the area surpassing 23 million square feet. The East Dallas corridor experienced a 1.2 million-square-foot total net absorption during the 2020 calendar year, with nearly 550,000 square feet of industrial space under construction, according to CBRE. The centrally located Forney Distribution Center offers a wide range of strategic advantages for companies looking to capitalize on Kaufman County’s transformative growth. This East Dallas submarket directly connects to U.S. Highway 80, Interstate 35 and Interstate 20, positioning the industrial space to numerous rail, air and ground transportation options offered by the DFW Metroplex. Additionally, in 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked Kaufman County as the No. 2 fastest-growing county in the nation, exposing the distribution center to a surplus of unmatched labor throughout the area. This hot Texas market has been an active investment for VanTrust. Last year alone, VanTrust broke ground on more than 2 million square feet of industrial and office space throughout the DFW Metroplex and El Paso areas, bringing attractive options for companies’ broad array of operations. Nathan Lawrence and Krista Clark of CBRE are managing the leasing assignment of the Forney Distribution Center. The project is slated for completion in May 2022.