A China-based solar panel maker with a U.S. arm in California selected the Lone Star State for a $200 million manufacturing plant outside of Dallas, which upon production, could employ up to 1,500 workers.
After conducting an 18-month nationwide search, Trina Solar, based in Changzhou, China, decided to put its new manufacturing hub in a 1.35 million-square-foot plant, called Tradepoint 45 West, at the southeast corner of Sunrise Road and Pleasant Run Road in Wilmer, Texas, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Dallas. Upon completion of the facility's build-out this year, Trina Solar officials said the plant would produce large power output Vertex modules using 210 mm large wafers.
The industrial lease for the entire 1.35 million-square-foot building has been selected by a panel of local industry professionals as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year for Dallas-Fort Worth.
About the Lease: Trina Solar signed the lease at Tradepoint 45 West earlier this year for the entire building, which began as a speculative industrial project in 2022. Champion Partners and Chicago-based Cresset Partners teamed up to build the speculative hub before later leasing it to Trina Solar.
What the Judges Said: "Trina Solar's decision to establish its U.S. manufacturing facility in Dallas-Fort Worth represents not only a significant economic triumph but also a commendable achievement in environmental, social, and governance sphere," said Steve Triolet, senior vice president of research and forecasting for Partners Real Estate. "This investment holds the potential to rejuvenate the region and uplift its populace."
They Made It Happen: Stream Realty Partners' Forrest Cook, Seth Koschak, Jeff Rein, Ridley Culp and Luke Davis. Jeffrey Swope and Stephen Modory of Champion Partners. Jeff Cherner with Cresset Partners.