The new logistics center marks the largest single investment in the city’s history.
By Cory Sekine-Pettite
Intermodal [adjective]: involving two or more different modes of transportation in conveying goods.
In late May, City of Powder Springs leadership and officials from DP Wagner marked the opening of the 20 West Intermodal facility off Highway 278 and Lewis Road. An estimated 175 jobs are expected to be located at the facility once fully occupied. About 40 of those employees will work for DP Wagner, a consumer products and fulfillment company and the first tenant of the intermodal facility.
“Today, we’re not just cutting the ribbon — we’re celebrating a major milestone for the city and the county,” Powder Springs Mayor Al Thurman said during the event. “With the opening of this brand new, 347,000-square-foot logistics center, we are marking the largest single investment in Powder Springs’ history — $50 million. And the creation of new, local career opportunities that will benefit our residents and economy for years to come.”
DP Wagner is a leader in the manufacture and distribution of private-label drywall patch kits, and a distributor of other products for major retailers throughout the country. Company officials say they intend to become a committed partner with the city and it begins with their new facility at 4795 Innovative Way.
“We were over in South Fulton, and we knew we needed a large facility to accomplish what we wanted to do in the business world,” said Jeff Hope, general manager of DP Wagner. “We looked at numerous facilities all over Atlanta, and found this building, and frankly, it stood out above the rest. It had great access; it had a great street name — Innovative Way. …How can you not be on a street named Innovative Way in a city called Powder Springs?”
Just minutes after cutting the ribbon with Mayor Thurman, Hope said he wanted the ceremonial action to signify more than just an opening. “We want it to signify the opening of new doors for collaboration, new avenues for progress, and a new chapter of shared success between our organization and the community,” Hope said. “Being a part of the City of Powder Springs and Cobb County is an exciting place to be. We’re incredibly grateful and deeply committed to being a member of this community, a strong partner, and a force for positive growth.”
Hope and other company officials took part in the May 27th event, as did representatives of Native Development Group LLC, which developed the facility with its partner, a real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital. Marsellas Williams, Economic Development director for the City of Powder Springs, called DP Wagner’s arrival and the ceremony “the beginning of something that will create real impact for our city.”
Williams applauded the efforts of Native Development Group and those of its principal, Joe McGorrey, for helping to bring the project to life. “These are careers, opportunities, and futures being built right here in our backyard,” Williams said. “This isn’t just a win for Powder Springs — it’s a regional asset, and it started with your team’s commitment to doing something big and doing it right.”
According to the building’s owner, CenterPoint Properties, 20 West Intermodal just three miles from a Norfolk Southern intermodal terminal and 14 miles from I-285 via I-20, giving its tenants efficient access to the metro Atlanta’s extensive highway network as well as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. “Atlanta is a market we’re enthusiastic about and focused on for its strong fundamentals and because it’s a natural extension of the Savannah market, where CenterPoint owns and manages 24 assets totaling nearly four million square feet,” Roy Rosenbaum, CenterPoint’s East Region Senior Vice President of Investments, said. “This facility has attributes we covet in our other target markets across the country, including access to an intermodal facility, desirable modern features, and a well-conceived site plan with multiple points of egress and ingress, a separate trailer exit, and an above-market parking ratio,” he added.
The city says a second tenant coming to the facility this year is a significant distributor of restaurant food and supplies. The company has 70 employees in its current facility that is relocating from the Fulton Industrial market. Its use of the facility will be aimed at serving the Georgia/Florida markets, and it expects to be fully operating by the end of 2025.
“This,” Mayor Thurman said, “is the kind of transformation and growth we’ve been working towards in Powder Springs — strategically sustainable and local impacting.”
