KCS announces plans for Kendleton $300M switchyard
"Its growth will come slowly and over time," - Michael M. Mullen, CEO CenterPoint Properties
BY DON MUNSCH dmunsch@fbherald.com

Kansas City Southern Railway last week announced construction plans for a large distribution park and rail facility that will bring up to 2,000 jobs and spark significant economic development in far west Fort Bend County.

Eastern Wharton County could benefit from the project as well.

In making the announcement, a KCS official said "it would not be a stretch" to say the development will bring more than $1 billion in economic impact to the area immediately west of Rosenberg.

Officials with KCS and CenterPoint Properties, a Chicago developer specializing in transportation and logistics, said Tuesday the $300 million development, known as an intermodal center, will be on 800 acres north of Kendleton, on the west side of U.S. 59.

The development will include an intermodal facility and a 636-acre industrial park, Warren K. Erdman, KCS executive vice president, said.

The facility can develop more than 7.5 million square feet of industrial warehouse space, which will be used to receive, store and disburse by rail and truck containerized cargo across Texas, other parts of the U.S. and Mexico.

Texas currently has only two other such intermodal centers, both located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Construction is set to begin immediately, said Michael M. Mullen, CEO of CenterPoint Properties, and Phase I could be completed as early as May.

Officials said the industrial build-out would span 12-15 years beginning in 2010. It would include more than $16 million in new infrastructure, such as roads, utilities and stormwater management throughout the park.

Erdman called CenterPoint the "premiere logis- park developer in North America, and we're very proud to have them as our development partner." He emphasized that the development work would be master-planned and officials would work in partnership with the local community.

He said the center will provide between 750 and 2,000 permanent jobs, as well as thousands of construction jobs.

Local contractors, architects and engineers will be used where possible, said Mullen, even local legal counsel would be retained.

"Its growth will come slowly and over time," he said. "It won't all happen at once, but it will grow incrementally, and as it does we will bring even more jobs to the community."

Economic Impact 'Huge'

These jobs will be "relatively good-paying jobs and create tax base for your community," he said.

The total economic impact to Fort Bend County won't be determined until later because there are too many variables, said Erdman, but he promised it would be huge. When pressed for a figure, he conceded more than $1 billion "would not be a stretch."

Erdman said the location was selected primarily because of its proximity to the Houston marketplace, but also because the site is ready to go and will be easier to develop because of its topography and its accessibility to San Antonio and Houston.

KCS acquired the land two years ago, Erdman said.

Intermodal centers allow transporters to move containerized cargo from one mode of conveyance to another without ever opening the container, Erdman explained.

- This story courtesy of The Fort Bend Herald.