Portman closes construction financing for Gateway 1960

Portman has closed on land and construction financing for Gateway 1960, a Class A industrial park in Houston with three buildings, according to Connect CRE. The project totals 714,233 square feet. Construction will begin this month, with delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2027.

The anchor building is a 440,323-square-foot cross-dock facility. A front-load building spans 157,723 square feet. A rear-load building spans 116,293 square feet. Partners is leading marketing and leasing; Angler Construction is the general contractor, Powers Brown Architecture the architect, and Langan the civil engineer.

Gateway 1960 extends a platform Portman established in 2021 when it launched its industrial business line. The portfolio includes 4.5 million square feet developed. Another 6.4 million square feet are under development in Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Charleston and Austin. Across office, hospitality, residential, retail and industrial, the firm manages roughly $5 billion in assets. Houston does not appear on that industrial market list, suggesting this is Portman's first industrial development there.

The building mix points to two kinds of tenants. The cross-dock shed is sized for a large distribution tenant working both dock sides; the front- and rear-load buildings suit users with smaller footprints. Closing the construction loan now, while delivery is still more than a year out, suggests a lender comfortable with the cost and schedule assumptions and with the project's leasing prospects. It also means Portman can break ground immediately rather than wait for market conditions to shift. Combining the land and construction in one closing shortens a process that can drag when a developer does them separately.

The announcement does not state the loan amount or the lender. Portman is moving Gateway 1960 from planning to construction without a lag, the latest sign that financing for industrial development remains available.