Partners Real Estate, a major holder of property in the RCR Taylor Logistics Park, has sold its first development in the railyard even as it opens its second building on the edge of Taylor and prepares to build another.
The property, spread over 14 acres along a rail spur connected to the Union Pacific and BNSF railways, is home to electric- vehicle maker Tesla, which has a 10-year lease on the 183,340-square-foot building.
Austin-based Tesla Inc. used the rail facility to ship the Model Y car and the distinctive Cybertruck manufactured at the Tesla Gigafactory 30 miles away in Del Valle.
Canadian firm Manulife Investment Management bought the building from Partners with the help of $32.2 million in acquisition financing arranged by JLL Capital Markets, according to a news release from investment advisory firm JLL.
The acquisition adds to Manulife’s 91.1 million square feet under management around the globe, according to the statement from JLL, and “is part of its strategic investment in high-quality industrial assets in growing markets.”
Partners Real Estate, based in Houston, is now leasing the recently completed TaylorPort Rail Park building next to the Tesla facility and has spaces available from 90,000 square feet to the entire 366,115-squarefoot facility on nearly 22 acres, according to the Partners website.
Partners’ representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company also has begun pre-leasing on another speculative building on the other side of Tesla, this one a 453,600-square-foot building on 36.4 acres.
Demand for industrial space, especially with the ability to receive materials or ship out finished products, is expected to increase greatly as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. approaches its late-2026 target to have its nearby $17 billion advanced-semiconductor foundry operational.
The Rail Park is next door to the Samsung Austin Semiconductor campus in Taylor.
Samsung suppliers, many from the client’s headquarters country of South Korea, are actively seeking space across East Williamson County. Outside the semiconductor supply chain, other manufacturers from South Korea, Taiwan and various locales are looking at the Taylor and Hutto areas for U.S. operations, local and regional economic development officials told the Press in previous articles.
A new round of interest in the area was kicked off by the recent announcement by Tesla CEO Elon Musk that the EV manufacturer had entered into a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to make the next generation Tesla AI6 chips at the Taylor foundry at least through 2033.
