IPC 20

A stormwater design decision can shape the future of an entire property. At Prologis’ IPC 20 in Tracy, California, it helped preserve an estimated 80,000 square feet of building area and supported a development vision that extended beyond the initial facility.

Prologis planned a 1,300,256-square-foot industrial building within the International Park of Commerce, with the potential for another 630,000 square feet of expansion. Accommodating both required careful decisions about where the building would sit, how water would move across the property and how infrastructure could serve future construction.

Kier + Wright (K+W) brought a longstanding understanding of the park to the challenge. Having helped master plan its roads and utilities, the firm understood how IPC 20 connected to the surrounding development. Working directly for Prologis, K+W provided civil engineering, land surveying and construction staking, carrying that knowledge from early planning into the field.

Across the 62.74-acre site, substantial elevation changes complicated the relationship between the building, loading areas and surrounding roads. An existing PG&E gas-line easement constrained grading and access. The building itself incorporated a sloped floor, requiring exterior loading areas to follow changing elevations while directing runoff away from the structure.

Each decision affected the next. Raising or lowering the building changed earthwork quantities, roadway transitions and drainage, with consequences extending into the land reserved for expansion. K+W evaluated multiple grading scenarios for both development stages, studying those relationships before construction established permanent conditions.

Stormwater treatment presented a particularly important choice. A conventional layout would place treatment facilities opposite loading areas along the building’s north and south sides, taking up space needed for its footprint and operations. K+W coordinated building elevations, exterior grading and drainage collection to direct runoff toward principal treatment facilities along the eastern edge.

That arrangement helped preserve the roughly 650-foot building depth. The design team estimated that a conventional layout would have required a combined 40 feet along the two sides. Across the building’s roughly 2,000-foot length, the difference equates to about 80,000 square feet of building area.

The approach also established how drainage could adapt if Prologis proceeds with expansion. Although the eastern treatment basins would need to move farther east, the existing storm-drain network could be extended rather than removed and replaced. Connections to the park’s gravity-based storm-drain and sanitary-sewer systems avoided pumping equipment and its associated energy and maintenance demands.

Making the property work also meant coordinating the experience of people moving through it. K+W worked closely with architect HPA on pedestrian routes, building access and an accessible connection between the main facility and guard shack. Within sloped truck-court areas, light-pole locations required coordination with structural and electrical designers to align grading, foundations and lighting needs.

Frequent joint reviews helped the teams work through these details as the design evolved. A change to a dock or entrance could affect paving, drainage or utilities elsewhere, making communication essential across a facility of this size.

As construction advanced, K+W’s surveyors maintained the control needed to translate the plans into the field. Work progressed in sections, with equipment and multiple trades operating around survey reference points. Drawing on an established park-wide control network, the team checked and reestablished points as needed while staking building grid lines, utilities and site improvements in coordination with Big-D Pacific Builders.

The completed facility earned LEED Gold certification in June 2026. Its sustainability measures reflect the work of the full project team, including efficient fixtures, reclaimed-water irrigation, LED lighting and advanced energy metering. The project’s LEED case study reports estimated annual water savings of 536,000 gallons indoors and 2.9 million gallons outdoors against applicable baselines.

For Prologis, IPC 20 represents a substantial investment in the property’s current use and future possibilities. Through coordinated design and continued involvement in construction, K+W helped preserve valuable building space, connect the facility to established infrastructure and give the next stage of development a practical place to begin.