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The Watco Cos. Inc. and real estate developer Charles Iupe recently formed Greensport Ship/Channel Partners L.P. and acquired Houston's Greensport Industrial Park from AK Steel.

The 640-acre park closed in the early 1980s, but recently was converted into a multi-modal industrial park. Located near Houston ports, the facility includes more than 2 million square feet of industrial buildings served by four rail yards and more than 20 track miles designed to store up to 1,200 rail cars, and direct access to several docks and a barge.

Iupe and Watco — which owns and operates eight short lines in 11 states — plan to offer park tenants warehousing, property leasing, contract stevedoring, and rail, truck and water transportation services.

Greensport Ship/Channel Partners will be managed by Greensport Management L.L.C., with Iupe serving as the management firm's president, and Watco President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Webb, vice president.

"Greensport will provide an anchor for Watco on the Texas Gulf Coast," said Webb in a prepared statement. "We currently provide short-line services through our Timber Rock Railroad in east Texas, and offer many transportation services in the Houston area, such as locomotive repair, tank-car cleaning, rail-car repair and industrial-switching services."