JLL Arranges $155M Construction Loan for Xebec's Buckeye Yards Industrial Project in Columbus

JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $155 million construction loan for Buckeye Yards, a four-building Class A industrial development totaling 1,793,535 square feet in Columbus, Ohio, the firm announced Nov. 5. JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, Xebec and its institutional capital partner, to secure the financing from Oxford Properties Group.

The speculative project is being built on a former Norfolk Southern rail yard west of downtown Columbus. The first phase of the master-planned development spans 153 acres.

JLL Capital Markets Team Led Buckeye Yards Financing

The JLL Capital Markets team was led by Senior Managing Director Danny Kaufman and Managing Director Lucas Borges, along with Senior Director Brian Walsh, Associate Michael Gurwin and Senior Analyst Emma Berner.

"The Columbus market's fundamental strength, driven by unprecedented corporate investment and constrained supply of quality industrial space, positioned this financing opportunity exceptionally well," Walsh said. "Xebec is delivering state-of-the-art product in a location where modern infill space of this scale simply doesn't exist, at a time when tenant demand for strategically positioned last-mile facilities continues to intensify."

The loan equates to approximately $86.43 per square foot of planned space.

Buckeye Yards Project Details: Four Buildings, 349 Dock Doors

Upon completion, the first phase will include four industrial buildings ranging from approximately 205,000 square feet to more than 910,000 square feet. The buildings will feature both rear-load and cross-dock configurations and clear heights of 36 to 40 feet.

The project will include 349 dock doors, 1,180 automobile parking spaces and 477 trailer parking stalls. It also will benefit from a 10-year tax abatement structure intended to enhance its competitiveness among institutional industrial users, according to the announcement.

The site is adjacent to a four-way interchange connecting Interstate 70 and Interstate 270 and sits next to the CSX intermodal facility. It is also near Rickenbacker International Airport and John Glenn Columbus International Airport. JLL said the location offers multimodal advantages for logistics, manufacturing and distribution users seeking last-mile and regional fulfillment capabilities.

The firm described Buckeye Yards as one of the last remaining large-scale infill industrial development sites in Columbus. It said the west-side location offers access to a deep labor pool and a regional economy supported by advanced manufacturing, logistics, technology, life sciences and education. JLL also cited corporate investments in the semiconductor, data center, biotechnology and defense manufacturing industries as supports for the area's long-term outlook and industrial demand.

Oxford Properties and Xebec Background

Oxford Properties Group, the financing provider, has operated a full-service, direct-drive credit business since 2011, deploying more than $15 billion across the debt capital stack, including mortgage, whole loan, mezzanine and CMBS, according to JLL. Oxford, established in 1960, manages approximately C$86 billion of assets across four continents and is owned by OMERS, the Canadian defined benefit pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees.

Xebec is a private industrial logistics real estate development and management firm with a 35-year logistics track record. The company has acquired and developed, redeveloped or repositioned projects totaling nearly 26.1 million square feet and currently has 31 projects totaling approximately 9.6 million square feet in various stages of development.

Columbus Industrial Market Conditions in Third Quarter 2026

Columbus industrial fundamentals were favorable in the third quarter of 2026, though reported metrics vary by research provider and market definition.

• CBRE reported 2.5 million square feet of quarterly net absorption, more than 8 million square feet of year-to-date absorption, a 4.7% vacancy rate and average asking rents of $7.07 per square foot.
• Colliers reported 3.5 million square feet of third-quarter absorption, 10.8 million square feet year to date and a 4.1% direct vacancy rate.
• Cushman & Wakefield reported a 3.4% overall vacancy rate, down 390 basis points year over year, and 11.2 million square feet of year-to-date absorption. Average net asking rents reached $6.98 per square foot, up 7.7% year over year.
• Lee & Associates reported Class A direct vacancy of 2.8%, down from 13.2% a year earlier, with average asking rates of $7.25 per square foot.

Leasing demand has outpaced deliveries across these measures. The development pipeline is also sizable: Colliers identified approximately 12.1 million square feet of speculative space scheduled to deliver through the end of 2027, with about 7.4 million square feet concentrated in the first half of that period, while Cushman & Wakefield cited a 17.2 million-square-foot pipeline. Buckeye Yards will enter a market where future competition is substantial.

What the Financing Signals for Industrial Development

The $155 million commitment for an unleased speculative project indicates that Oxford is underwriting the site's transportation connectivity, infill scarcity, tenant demand and tax benefits rather than relying on preleasing alone. The loan's implied basis of roughly $86 per square foot is before accounting for land, construction-cost changes, financing costs or other project expenses.

The 10-year tax abatement is expected to improve the project's effective occupancy cost as asking rents rise and tenants weigh newer buildings against older industrial inventory. The project's infill positioning and access to I-70, I-270, intermodal infrastructure and airports may help differentiate it from developments farther from established labor pools and distribution routes.

JLL's Capital Markets group provides capital solutions across investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, M&A and corporate finance, loan sales, equity and fund placement, net lease, derivative advisory and energy and infrastructure advisory, with more than 3,000 specialists in offices in nearly 50 countries.

Sources

• JLL news release, "JLL arranges $155M construction loan for Buckeye Yards industrial development in Columbus": https://www.jll.com/en-us/newsroom/jll-arranges-155m-construction-loan-for-buckeye-yards