Suffolk officials announced on Thursday morning that a developer has committed to building a 300,000-square-foot speculative industrial building in the Virginia Regional Commerce Park.

The structure will be Panattoni Development Company’s first industrial building in Virginia, Suffolk officials stated in a press release announcing the project. They also called the project the first speculative industrial development to be built in Hampton Roads since 2007.

Construction is expected to start later this summer, with occupancy available by next spring, according to the news release.

“It speaks volumes for the economy of where we are and where we’ve come,” said Kevin Hughes, economic development director for Suffolk. “Seeing a developer spend millions of dollars on a building without a tenant in place speaks volumes about where we are, from an economy standpoint, and where we’re headed and the confidence they have.”

The Virginia Regional Commerce Park, located off Pruden Boulevard behind Tractor Supply, already includes one building of about 390,000 square feet. Its tenants include ArtFx, Massimo Zanetti, Best Brakes, Caspari and Sumitomo, Hughes said.

The second building will also be ideal for tenants in the warehousing, distribution and light manufacturing arenas, Hughes said.

“It’s built in such a manner to where it can be a solutions-oriented building for logistics as well as manufacturing,” Hughes said.

The third and fourth buildings in the development are planned for around 250,000 and 200,000 square feet, Hughes said.

He added the city has been working with Panattoni on the deal for about a year.

“Panattoni’s investment in Suffolk is a confirmation of a continued strengthening industrial market led by our growing Port of Virginia,” Mayor Linda T. Johnson stated in the release. “This project will provide the opportunity to bring new business and important jobs to our community.”

The company expects to capitalize on the location’s proximity to the ports, planning a building with 32-foot ceilings, 50-by-50-foot column spacing and space for trailer storage.

“The Port of Virginia’s leadership and planned terminal capital investments gave our firm the confidence to move forward with the first speculative development in Hampton Roads in almost 10 years,” Bill Hudgins, Panattoni’s Mid-Atlantic Market representative, stated in the release. “We look forward to this being the first of many Panattoni projects in the state of Virginia.”

Virginia Regional Commerce Park, located on Pruden Boulevard, near its intersection with U.S. Route 58, is a 25-acre commerce park that will encompass more than a million square feet of enclosed space when it’s complete. It has received designation from state officials as a Foreign Trade Zone, which earns tenants certain tax breaks on the goods that come through the facility.

Panattoni operates from 24 offices throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. The company has more than 250 million square feet of space around the world.