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Industrial Realty Group LLC has bought 13.34 acres at Judkins Court at Carolina Road in the Coastal Logistics Center.

The company paid $867,100 to buy the property from William Griffin to help expand the distribution center being built at 271 Benton Road.

IRG, a national real estate development and investment company that specializes in acquiring, developing and managing of commercial and industrial real estate, announced earlier this year that it would begin construction on a 910,000-square-foot, high-volume cross-dock terminal in Suffolk and a 72,000-square-foot transload facility in Portsmouth. Both sites will include what it says are “significant” trailer parking areas. The two facilities are expected to be completed sometime in 2023.

The two sites, located near the Port of Virginia, are part of a collective build-to-suit project for third-party logistics tenant UNIS LLC.

“We’ve worked alongside incredible partners to develop a creative plan, unifying the two properties into what will be a highly efficient project for UNIS,” said IRG Senior Vice President Justin Lichter in a statement. “It’s the right tenant, in the right market, with the right conditions. The port’s support has been invaluable. It has created a development-friendly atmosphere that fosters growth.”

UNIS is based out of Walnut, California, and operates more than 14 million square feet of fulfillment space in 28 warehouses in 16 major markets in the United States.

The move into Virginia means UNIS will now operate in all of the top 10 U.S. ports.

The Port of Virginia processed more than 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units in 2021, up 25% from the previous year.

“The arrival of a 3PL like UNIS in our market sends a very strong signal about how the industry views The Port of Virginia’s future,” said port CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards in a statement. “This is a premier port that is helping to drive a very dynamic market and we had a great opportunity to demonstrate this to the UNIS team. We’ve watched distribution companies manage challenging space constraints throughout the country and were able to collaborate with IRG to develop creative solutions to support UNIS as it expands.”