The decision by tile and stone company Emser Tile to keep its distribution center in Suffolk, Virginia, a city in the Hampton Roads region, confirms the continued importance of the location’s direct access to the nearby Port of Virginia.
The California-based firm extended by three years its full-building lease of the 401,000-square-foot facility located at 1061 Centerpoint Drive in the Virginia Port Logistics Center, just off Route 58 west of downtown Suffolk. The advantageous location enables delivery trucks to travel by that route and Interstate 264 to reach the port in about a half-hour.
The second-quarter lease last year drew praise from a panel of industry judges knowledgeable of the market, who honored it with a 2025 CoStar Impact Award as lease of the year for Hampton Roads.
An investment partnership of Equus Capital Partners and American International Group, or AIG, owns the industrial building. Other companies with warehouses in the immediate vicinity include furniture maker Friant & Associates, beverage distributor Massimo Zanetti and iRobot. The Suffolk warehouse was the tile firm’s third North America distribution center when it was built.
About the project: By maintaining its presence in Suffolk, Emser preserved more than 100 jobs in the area.
What the judges said: "In terms of community impact, the Virginia Port Logistics Park deal does deliver more than others nominated in this category in terms of employment and the continued development of Hampton Roads,” said Simon Stevenson, the Robert M. Stanton endowed chair of real estate and economic development at Old Dominion University.
They Made It Happen: Robert Tamillo, JLL managing director, brokered the lease renewal for Emser Tile. Emser Tile was represented by chief executive officer Carl Delia.
CoStar Market Manager Christian Taylor contributed to this report.