Monday night Jackson Township reviewed Doug Sippel’s plan for what will be a FedEx distribution center on 60 acres north of Zelienople. The 305,000 sq. ft. facility is exactly the kind of industrial project that has been missing from the region until recently. The FedEx project will be the third big user over 250,000 sq. ft. to enter the Pittsburgh market since last year (Gordon Foods and Amazon are the others). Sippel’s development may be another one-off (although by definition that is already impossible) but my guess is that it is part of a trend that was included in our industrial feature in DevelopingPittsburgh last month – a trend that Jeffrey Ackerman of CBRE spoke about two weeks ago.

Amazon’s lease is for a fulfillment center that is a mini-distribution model aimed at handling their overnight and same-day fulfillment goals. Amazon’s vision of selling everything to everyone is creating tremendous logistical needs in markets that are below the super distribution center size. Ackerman talked about the trend at the CBRE Real Estate Symposium and predicted that the Amazon lease would draw the attention of other logistics providers like FedEx and UPS. Let’s hope this is the start of a wave. Even better, let’s hope it inspires some big spec warehouse space construction.

Some noteworthy commercial construction updates: WVU short-listed Mascaro, PJ Dick and Turner on the $30 million Milan Puskar Stadium upgrade. The proposers on the $30-50 million Union Trust Building renovation will interview this week. Beaver Area Heritage awarded $1.1 million in contracts for the Beaver Station restoration. Arcon was the low general. Franjo Construction got started on a new $2 million Goddard School down in Upper St. Clair and a new 16,000 sq. ft. Aldi’s at the Crossings of South Fayette on Washington Pike south of Bridgeville.