Ready for Development: TexAmericas Center’s UP-Served Site (Updated)
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The new Brazos industrial development site is on the TexAmericas Center East Campus in Hooks, Tex., which is two hours east of Dallas and two hours southwest of Little Rock. (TexAmericas Center Map)
TexAmericas Center (TAC) on Nov. 28 reported that its 250-acre Union Pacific (UP)-served industrial park in Hooks, Tex., is “shovel-ready.” On Jan. 16, TAC received a $1.5 million portion of $15.4 million in grant funding for infrastructure projects in military communities from the Texas Military Preparedness Commission’s (TMPC) Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant (DEAAG) program.
The new Brazos Site (download specs below) is on the TexAmericas Center East Campus, which is two hours east of Dallas and two hours southwest of Little Rock, Ark.
The TexAmericas Center, a state of Texas-sanctioned local redevelopment authority, owns and operates the 12,000-acre mixed-use industrial park that includes the Brazos Site. TAC is located on the combined footprint of the former Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, which closed in 2005, and the Red River Army Depot, which is still an active military installation. For TexAmericas Center, the grant funding will go toward enhancing its logistics capabilities.
TAC said that Texas Northeastern (TNER) collects cars in the UP and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) yards in Texarkana and delivers them to the Center via a UP-owned line along the north boundary line of TAC East; TNER moves the cars to the siding located at the northwest corner of TAC East, and then privately owned Lone Star Rail Car Service connects and spots the cars in a 350-car classification yard along the west boundary of TAC East or moves the cars to locations on TAC East.
TAC owns approximately 36 miles of rail on TexAmericas Center East. A siding currently runs along the west boundary of the Brazos site. Additional switches can be added along this line, if needed, it said. Additionally, a designated transload location is operating at TAC East and is located on the acreage immediately north of the Brazos site on Oak Street; a 12-car spot is designated and an operator contracts with businesses independently for loading and unloading activities, according to TAC.
The Brazos Site also offers access to Cass and Oak streets, both 80,000-pound truck routes. Interstate Highway 30 is less than a mile from the greenfield development site.
“The Brazos Site is an exceptional location for major development, with soil suited for large construction, direct access to water and sewer, low-cost electrical power, high-speed fiber, natural gas, and impressive proximity to a logistics corridor that gives direct access to major interstates while being a Union Pacific-served site,” TAC CEO Scott Norton said.
