LOVELAND — Ground has been broken for the first phase of an industrial manufacturing and distribution project in Loveland that eventually will encompass around 1 million square feet, developers say.

The Boyd Lake Commerce Center is launching with the speculative construction of a 100,117-square-foot free-standing building on nine acres that can accommodate a single- or multi-tenant user. That building should be ready for occupancy by next summer, developers say.

The project, along Boyd Lake Avenue, is owned and developed by the Englewood office of Saunders Commercial Development Co. and Winslow Investments. Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is handling leasing for the project, rising on a 95-acre site north of U.S. Highway 34 and south of Colorado Highway 392 on Loveland’s eastern edge.

Jason Ells, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield, said in a prepared statement that the new manufacturing and distribution park will offer companies “high-quality warehouse space and a large outdoor storage area great for parking additional trailers, automobiles or to store products. We are excited to officially kick off construction at the project with the speculative delivery of this versatile and functional building that can accommodate a wide pool of industrial users and fulfill the ongoing tenant demand we’re seeing in the region, which maintains robust market fundamentals.”

Ells told BizWest late Monday that “we’re hoping to have plus or minus 1 million square feet” of building space at buildout. He added that “additional buildings by the developer will follow the completion of Building 1 “based on overall activity and demand.

Ells and Teena Bergstrand, senior developer of marketing strategy at Saunders Commercial Development, said the buildings will be designed for mostly light-industrial, manufacturing and distribution, with some office flex space.

Bergstrand said a groundbreaking was held Sept. 26, and Ells said heavy equipment began work at the site on Oct. 3.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s second-quarter 2022 market report, Northern Colorado’s overall industrial market vacancy fell to a tight 3.2%, while for the 18th consecutive quarter industrial asking rates increased, rising from a once all-time high of $12.02 per square foot on a triple-net basis in the first quarter of this year to $12.23 in the second quarter. It said leasing in the second quarter, the most active in more than a decade, showed a 46% increase from the first quarter. Second-quarter net absorption also was positive for the seventh consecutive quarter, the report said, with more than 400,000 square feet of growth at mid-year.