Houston-based truck parking lot developer scores Amazon lease for first project

 

By Florian Martin, Houston Business Journal

In a move to consolidate its trailer parking in northwest Houston, Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) has leased space for 400 trailer spots near its distribution center outside Brookshire in Waller County.

The online retailer signed a long-term lease with DryPort Capital on Oct. 1 for 12.7 acres at Riggy’s West 10, a new outdoor truck parking and storage lot at 30229 U.S. Highway 90, DryPort has announced.

The Houston-based real estate and logistics company just completed the 15-acre lot this week, after breaking ground in March, DryPort Managing Partner Mike Burney said. Houston-based Harvey Builders was the general contractor, and Ben Sims with the Houston office of Raleigh, North Carolina-based Kimley-Horn designed the project.

Judd Harrison and Peter Billipp of KBC Advisors represented Amazon in the lease negotiations. Jim Autenreith and Sam Rayburn of Moody Rambin represented DryPort.

Amazon’s lease accounts for 88% of the entire property, leaving 20 12-foot-by-75-foot spots for short-term truck parking rentals.

Seattle-based Amazon is using its 12-foot-by-55-foot spaces to store trailers without the truck cabs. The company terminated several leases of smaller parking lots to consolidate into Riggy’s West, Burney said.

“Most of the lots that people have rented in the past are dirt, crushed concrete or gravel lots,” he said. “We’re fully paved, heavy duty, concrete, better security. And just, it’s a lot more efficient for them … to have everything under one roof.”

The Houston Business Journal has reached out to Amazon for comment.

The gated lot also features a 2,000-square-foot lounge with showers, restrooms, and commercial washer and dryer facilities.

It’s the first industrial outside storage lot 3-year-old DryPort has developed. The company was co-founded by David Olson, previously a project manager at industrial engineering and construction company Sofec. Being the son of a trucker, Olson realized there was a shortage of truck parking, particularly with e-commerce booming during the Covid-19 pandemic, Burney said.

That includes the warehouse-heavy area along Interstate 10 west of Katy.

“If you ever go up Pederson Road, right by our site, it’s just jam-packed with trucks parked on the median,” Burney said. “It’s a safety issue, and so (we’re) delivering a big need for those truckers.”

The issue is that many industrial developers don’t build enough truck and trailer parking, Burney said, as they maximize the building footprint.

DryPort also acquires and upgrades existing truck lots. In the Houston area, it also owns a 230-space lot at 8127 Miller Road in Sheldon, a 205-space lot just north of there along Beltway 8 at 11211 Hornberger Road, and a lot with 177 spaces at 19411 Clay Road in the Katy area.

In addition, the company has truck lots under development in San Antonio, the Dallas area and Memphis, Tennessee.

“Our mission at Riggy’s has always been clear — to serve the trucking community with an unwavering commitment that extends far beyond the ordinary,” Olson said in a statement. “We are not merely a company; we are pioneers in the world of truck parking, dedicated to meeting the unique needs of truck drivers and the transportation industry as a whole.”

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