Specht Development and Colas Development Group are teaming up to develop a 48-acre section of the Gresham Vista Business Park.

The Port of Portland Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved a master development agreement with the two local companies. The partnership has the option to buy or lease Gresham Vista Lot 5 from the port, which owns the property.

“We have the option to buy; the port would prefer a long-term lease,” said Greg Specht, CEO of Specht Development. “Every deal is different. We have the flexibility to go in either direction.”

The Specht-Colas partnership will seek a user – ideally a manufacturing business, Specht said. “This deal with the port does not provide for speculative development,” he said. “It’s build-to-suit.”

The companies have formed a joint-venture entity, GV5, a limited liability company.

Specht Development and Trammell Crow previously built projects in Gresham Vista Business Park. The property also includes a synthetic diamond manufacturing plant built for De Beers Group by U.K.-based Gardiner & Theobald.

Colas Construction previously worked for Specht Properties on the renovation of the 220 NW 2nd Building to accommodate Prosper Portland‘s new offices.

“They did a bang-up job,” Specht said.

Andrew Colas, president and CEO of Colas Construction, did not return a message seeking comment. In a news release, he stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Specht, the Port of Portland and the city of Gresham on this unique development project. We believe this project will set a new standard in the importance of BIPOC Development Corporation inclusion in large-scale developments and could not be more excited to partner with Specht in this pursuit.”

The project will have strict diversity targets and require high-wage jobs. The average wage target is $53,890.

“That’s a high bar,” Specht said.

Predevelopment of the project comes as the industrial sector has been a bright spot in a weakening commercial real estate market. Specht, who has long maintained that a dearth of available land restricts industrial development in the Portland-metro area, believes Gresham Vista Lot 5 is special.

“It’s one of the best remaining greenfield sites for industrial development in the Portland metropolitan area,” he said.

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That’s one way of making a hard Brexit.

A U.K.-based synthetic diamond manufacturer announced Thursday that it will open a facility in Gresham Vista Business Park.

The manufacturer, Element Six, is a division of De Beers Group. It will initially employ about 60 full-time engineers, technicians and other employees at the plant.

Once operational, the plant will be able to produce upwards of 500,000 rough carats of lab-made diamonds each year. Production is expected to begin in early 2020.

The project will receive a five-year property-tax abatement designated for new investment in enterprise zones.

De Beers ended up in Gresham after initially approaching Southwest Washington officials, said Janet LaBar, president and CEO of Greater Portland Inc. The Columbia River Economic Development Council referred the company to Greater Portland as part of a region-wide search, she said.

The business park is owned by the Port of Portland and also includes a major Subaru distribution facility.

Other U.S. markets were also jockeying for the De Beers investment. The company was attracted to Gresham by its affordable power supplies, friendly business climate and highly skilled workforce, LaBar said.

Element Six manufactures diamonds using extreme heat in a vacuum. The company recently announced a line of affordable synthetic diamond jewelry; it also makes synthetic diamonds for industrial use.

International trade is in a time of tumult, with the U.S. and trading partners instituting tariffs and the U.K. mired in a prolonged process to leave the European Union.

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