Eason, Graham & Sandner Inc. is developing a $10 million, 250,000-square-foot distribution building in Shelby West Industrial Park - without the promise of any tenant.

It's the first privately developed speculative building in the park owned and operated by the Shelby County Economic & Industrial Development Authority. The building is the ninth in the park and will be the park's largest structure when it's complete in January 2006.

"This is an important project for Shelby County," said James Dedes, executive director of the authority. "It will increase our inventory of available buildings to show to new prospects."

Shelby County's growth and the location of the park off Interstate 65 make the location the right place for such a gamble, according to Mark Byers, a principal at EG&S.

"Our confidence in putting this building up and speculating on it is an indication of what we as developers think the future holds for the industrial market in the Birmingham area as a whole and the Shelby County market in particular," Byers said.

Early Interest:

Marc Eason, another principal at EG&S, said early indications are the building will not be empty for long.

"We're working with two companies now that have expressed an interest - and we haven't even broken ground yet," Eason said.

Byers said the two tenants combined would take up about half the building. It was designed for as many as six different tenants, depending on their size.

Brasfield & Gorrie, the general contractor, plans to start construction this week. ServisFirst Bank is providing the financing to the owners, which include EG&S and a group of investors.

The building was designed by Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc. It includes office space and features in demand among distribution companies such as high ceilings, docking bays and plenty of space for parking trucks.

Such features also are part of a $9 million, 247,000 square-foot distribution center under construction near Interstate 65 and U.S. 31 in Calera.

Graham & Co. has started building the third building in its Shelby Commerce Park, which is already home to a 500,000-square-foot building and a 208,000-square-foot facility with a total of four tenants.

The new building is also being built on a speculative basis, according to Graham's Ogden Deaton.

"The market has been pretty consistent out there, and there has been a good amount of activity, so we're confident this project will be successful," he said. The numbers back up Deaton's confidence.

A survey by Graham & Co. at the end of 2004 found the southern part of the Birmingham area that includes the I-65 corridor had 96.8 percent occupancy of its bulk distribution space, with nearly 725,000 square feet of such space sold or leased in 2004.

DesignForm is the architect of the new building and Cooper Construction is building it. Compass Bank provided financing.

As with the Shelby West distribution center, Deaton said there is early interest from prospective companies considering leasing space in the new building. "We're talking with quite a few potential tenants," Deaton said. "We're excited about the future."

Another project:

Once this building is complete in October and leasing fills it, Deaton said, Graham can turn its sights on developing the last 32 acres in Shelby Commerce Park. That spot calls for the park's largest building yet of more than 500,000 square feet.

Such talk is music to the ears of Dedes, who knows one of the most important elements when recruiting new industry is being able to show them space full with activity and with new vacant space that is ready for them to move into.

"The Shelby West distribution center will complement similar projects on the U.S. 31 corridor and will be part of around 1.5 million square feet of speculative buildings in south Shelby County," Dedes said.