Century Park Research Center/Port of Tucson

Alan Levin, owner of the Port of Tucson/Century Park Research Center, describes the intermodal and warehousing capabilities of his facility and the advantages of the Foreign Trade Zone

In 1996, Alan Levin purchased the 264-acre Century Park Research Center with the goal of creating a Southern Arizona center for warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing, all based around the “intermodal” rail system and trucking lanes neighboring the research center near south Kolb and Wilmot roads.

“I’ve always had a strong belief in the access to rail, and nobody ever did anything about it,” said Alan, owner and developer of Century Park Research Center and Port of Tucson.

Mike Levin, Alan’s son and director of marketing, explained that while growing up in a small community in Kansas, his family realized the importance of proximity to rail for business growth.

Alan considers one of Century Park’s biggest successes to be entering into a 15-year contract with Union Pacific Railroad to provide intermodal services using the rail bordering the research center. He considers this contract to be one of several opportunities contributing to the success of his operations.

“It’s very important in today’s business environment to have the ability to see opportunities and act on them in a timely matter,” Alan said.

Being able to act on these opportunities is credited largely to the fact that Alan runs a family business; Levin & Sons General Contracting was established in 1971.

“We’ve been able to own the land, be the developer, general contractor, and landlord,” Alan said.

Because we own the land we are able to do a lot of the work ourselves and act on opportunities quickly and efficiently, said Mike.

Century Park houses several warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing facilities, but also has a large amount of undeveloped land. Also located within Century Park is the Port of Tucson, a transportation and logistics center available to assist businesses in Tucson and the Southwest with access to rail and intermodal container transportation options.

Alan says the Port of Tucson is a “great logistics asset for the region,” and a vital element in contributing to the growth of the Southern Arizona region.

After moving his family to Tucson in 1969, Alan says he “fell in love” with the area. The Levin’s plan to continue developing opportunities within Century Park, with a particular focus on contracting larger companies interested in using rail for transportation of their products.

“This is a family-owned facility, rail park and business,” said Alan. “The way it’s set up, the Levin family will be here forever.”

For more information on Century Park Research Century or Port of Tucson, visit www.portoftucson.net online.

Photo courtesy Mike Levin.