One of the oldest and largest local suppliers of commercial and residential building materials, Kamco Supply Corp. has secured more than 57,000 square feet of warehouse space in Castle Hill’s Zerega Industrial Complex.

Through a long-term lease, Kamco will use roughly 57,544 square feet of warehouse space at and 55,224 square foot of land at 1200 Zerega Ave. for the storage and distribution of building materials.

The Zerega Industrial Complex property is now 60% leased, with 25,895 square feet of remaining available warehouse space and 12,895 square feet of available office space, plus land for additional storage or parking.

Zerega is one of five Bronx Industrial Business Zones — which according to the city’s Economic Development Corporation are “safe havens” for manufacturing and industrial firms — including Bathgate, Port Morris, Eastchester and Hunts Point.

The warehouse facility, which is leased by Simone Development Companies, encompasses nearly 100,000 square feet in warehouse and office property space with connection to the 6 subway line, multiple bus routes, the Hutchinson River Parkway, as well as the Bruckner and Cross Bronx expressways.

“Modern and spacious warehouse space is in high demand in the New York metro area, and 1200 Zerega Ave. is extremely attractive to users like Kamco due to the rare combination of warehouse space and available land that is centrally located with immediate access to major highways,” said Josh Gopan, vice president of leasing at Simone Development.

When the neighborhoods around Zerega began to increase in residential density — in large part due to high-rise public housing development enabled by the New Deal and increased highway connections — manufacturing possibilities began to open up with the creation of the Zerega Industrial Complex in 1970.

In the coming decades, notable tenants include Krispy Kreme and Verizon, among others.

New warehouses are expected to be opening near the Port of New York and New Jersey in the coming months, just when existing space is becoming more available as current tenants move out. Industrial real estate experts said the uptick in vacancies signals a more balanced market and that near-port warehousing should remain in high demand over the long-term.

Simone Development said its marketing the remaining warehouse and office areas for lease in Zerega Industrial Park.

In the onset of the pandemic, there had been a demand for industrial space, which is reflected in the 2022 fourth quarter numbers, which saw 1.5 million square feet leased in the final quarter.

So far, just 730,000 square feet of industrial space was leased in the first quarter of 2023, according to quarterly data from Global Commercial Real Estate Services.