U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased two facilities in Texas, as well as a property outside of Atlanta, as it makes way for detention facilities expected to house detainees as the federal government expands its enforcement of immigration laws.
The three Sun Belt industrial properties total nearly 2.5 million square feet in San Antonio, Texas; near El Paso, Texas, and Social Circle, Georgia, according to deed records and city officials. ICE, an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said its "law enforcement activities across the country" are producing arrests, with ICE "actively working to expand detention space."
ICE has been more in the spotlight as protests have taken place across the United States, including after ICE agents recently shot to death two protestors in Minnesota who were legal residents. ICE was also criticized for its handling of the case of a 5-year-old boy in Minnesota who was sent to Texas. Concerns about ICE in Congress led to Democrats seeking to block some government funding and changes to agency practices.
Last month, ICE reportedly attempted to purchase property in Hanover County, Virginia, for possible use as a detention center for immigrants. But the property owner, Jim Pattison Developments, said he removed the sales listing after it was disclosed that ICE was the buyer and local groups protested the sale, according to Virginia Public Media.
ICE recently acquired the following properties in Texas and Georgia:
- A nearly 640,000-square-foot industrial property on a 39-acre tract at 542 SE Loop 410 in San Antonio from an affiliate of Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group LLC for more than $66.1 million, according to a Bexar County deed record. ICE confirmed the acquisition in an email to CoStar News, saying the agency "purchased land and a facility in San Antonio."
- A 1-million-square-foot warehouse, once occupied by Dart Container, the maker of Solo-branded food and beverage containers, at 1365 E. Hightower Trail in Social Circle, a municipality about 50 miles east of Atlanta, according to a statement from the city of Social Circle. The property was last valued at $26.5 million for the county tax rolls. The property was last owned by PNK, a company that lists an address in Atlanta for the ownership of the Social Circle hub, according to public records. PNK did not immediately respond to a request from CoStar News to comment.
- A newly built campus, called Eastwind Logistics Center, with three buildings ranging between 261,340 square feet and 296,200 square feet within the city limits of Socorro, Texas, outside El Paso near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to El Paso County deed records. The federal government paid just north of $122.8 million for the property that includes adjacent land for expansion, according to the records. The seller, named Delaware-based El Paso Logistics II LLC in the deed records, is tied to property developer Flint Development and investor NewStreet Properties, according to CoStar data and public records. Flint Development and NewStreet Properties didn't immediately respond to a request to comment from CoStar News.
On the San Antonio facility, ICE told CoStar News that it "will not be a warehouse," but would be part of its network of "very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards." ICE is also reportedly seeking to add a 1-million-square-foot detention facility in the Dallas area that could house up to 9,500 detainees. The deal has yet to be completed, and ICE told CoStar News the federal agency has no news to announce in North Texas.
In San Antonio, Oakmont developed the industrial building in 2023 on a speculative basis as a potential distribution hub. At the time the project was launched, an executive with the development firm said that the San Antonio industrial market's vacancy rate was tightening and the firm was excited to build its "first-ever project in the Alamo City."
Oakmont has "long been bullish on Texas," and the firm's executives expected the building "to lease quickly, given the continued demand for warehouse product and distribution centers ... closer to consumers," the Oakmont executive said at the time.
The industrial property was last valued at $37.6 million, according to the Bexar County Appraisal District. Oakmont did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
ICE is acquiring the industrial facilities as part of a national effort to expand its detention space with funds approved by the government last year.
CoStar News' editor Tony Wilbert contributed to this report.