The landlord behind a massive North Texas vacant warehouse is breaking its silence regarding what was expected to be one of the nation's largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, saying it "has not and will not enter into any agreement" for the property.
Majestic Realty Co., a California-based landlord with about 92 million square feet of real estate in the United States, said the firm was contacted by the Department of Homeland Security about the potential sale of Majestic Realty's more than 1 million-square-foot vacant industrial warehouse at 950 N. Interstate 45 in Hutchins, Texas, a city about 11 miles south of downtown Dallas. But Majestic Realty wants no part of a federal detention facility.
"Majestic Realty Co. has not and will not enter into any agreement for the purchase or lease of any building to the Department of Homeland Security for use as a detention facility," the firm's executives said in a Monday statement emailed to CoStar News.
"We’re grateful for the long-term relationship we have with Mayor Mario Vasquez and the city of Hutchins and look forward to continuing our work to find a buyer or lease tenant that will help drive economic growth," said Majestic Realty, which has been marketing the facility since it was constructed in 2022.
Officials in Hutchins expressed concerns about the proposed plans for the facility if it was operated by ICE, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, and housed 9,500 detainees — more than doubling the city's population of roughly 8,000 residents.
ICE has been acquiring industrial facilities across the nation in recent months as part of a national effort to expand its detention space with funds approved by the government last year. The real estate moves come as ICE has been in the spotlight as protests have taken place across the United States, including after federal agents recently shot to death two protestors in Minnesota who were legal residents.
Majestic Realty isn't the only U.S. landlord backing out of potential real estate deals tied to ICE detention facilities. Landlords of other sites considered by the Department of Homeland Security reportedly stepped away from deals tied to plans to detain thousands of alleged illegal immigrants in Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City and Ashland, Virginia.
Meanwhile, other landlords are selling facilities to ICE with plans to transform them into detention centers. Nationwide, CoStar's research team has clocked seven completed deals through deed transfers, including:
Arizona: A more than 400,000-square-foot industrial facility in the municipality of Surprise.
Georgia: A 1 million-square-foot distribution hub in the municipality of Social Circle.
Maryland: A more than 825,000-square-foot industrial facility in Williamsport.
Pennsylvania: A more than half-million-square-foot logistics center in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, a municipality about 30 miles from Allentown in the Lehigh Valley; and a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot facility in Tremont, which sits in the northeastern part of the state.
Texas: A more than 600,000-square-foot industrial facility in San Antonio and a nearly 300,000-square-foot facility in El Paso County.