CHICAGO, IL- Jones Lang LaSalle has just announced that they have been named the leasing agent for 1400 Harris Road, one of two industrial/distribution buildings at the Liberty Point Corporate Center, a development in north suburban Libertyville recently purchased by the New Jersey-based real estate investment firm The Silverman Group.
Finished in 2007, the center was planned at the height of the boom, but the crash left most of 1400 Harris Road empty. Silverman has placed a bet that the economy, and specifically, the north suburban market, has sufficiently recovered to fill up the available 110,427 SF. Tire Centers, LLC and Laser Precision rent out the rest of the 142,000 SF building. Culligan International Co. fully occupies the other building in Liberty Point, a 218,000 SF structure at 1500 Harris Road.
The prolonged vacancy at 1400 does not seem to faze Steve Trapp, who will handle the leasing along with Kurt Sarbaugh and Robin Stolberg.
“To some users, it's a benefit because it's a virgin space,” he told GlobeSt.com. Neither the new owner nor potential tenants have to worry whether they should keep someone else's old design, or rip out walls and reconfigure the floor plan. Instead, “we're having prospective layouts put together” to help them create their own vision for the space.
A rising economy should create opportunities for the big spaces built just before the crash, Trapp believes, because the new construction typically has higher ceilings and other needed amenities. 1400 Harris, for example, has a 26-foot clearance while many distribution facilities in Lake County only have 22 or lower. Furthermore, it has the most up-to-date high-density sprinklers, which allows tenants to stack goods almost to the ceiling, greatly increasing the space's efficiency.
It also has 218 parking spaces, Trapp added, more than many older buildings and perfectly suited to the type of businesses that make their home in Lake County. Unlike the heavier industrial districts such as the I-55 Corridor, the county attracts a lot of light manufacturing, pharmaceutical firms, labs and other companies that need more parking because they have a high density of employees, including, in addition to warehouse workers, a lot of office personnel.
“And they want to bring those employees under one roof. That's the million-dollar opportunity they're looking for.”
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
