January 19, 2022 - TRA Newswire - (photo credit Jack Lee Stryker II)

A 400-car storage-in-transit (SIT) logistics yard will be developed alongside Interstate 10 in Baytown to alleviate rail-car congestion and help with supply chain distribution.

It's called Port 10 Watco Rail Logistics and its a joint venture of Watco Companies LLC, Pontikes Development, and McNair Interests. Construction on the yard is expected to begin in February and be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

The Port 10 Watco Rail Logistics SIT Yard will provide additional off-site railroad infrastructure, enabling industrial customers to store empty and loaded rail cars outside of their industrial footprint. This offsite option gives customers a cost-effective way to maximize their production capabilities and optimize their operations. The more efficient use of space improves the customer’s production and distribution economics.

“We expect the new yard — an extension of the Port 10 Logistics Center industrial park development — will add convenience, flexibility, and operational efficiencies to our customers in the Baytown area,” said Marc Massoglia, Watco’s senior vice president of sales for terminal and port services.  The location is adjacent to Interstate 10 and provides interstate access with rail connectivity to the Union Pacific (UP) with direct access to UP’s Coady Yard.

In addition to the approximately 400 railcar spots, three million square feet of warehouse and distribution space will be available for forward positioning customer products.

“Watco is the ideal partner to round out our multimodal capabilities at Port 10 Logistics Center,” said George Pontikes of Pontikes Development. “Their expertise and national network will add a tremendous amount of value and services to Port 10 tenants and the Baytown and Port of Houston industrial market as a whole.”