CHICAGO, IL- A local partnership has just bought the Crossroads Commerce Center, a 127-acre industrial site in Rochelle, from a group of out-of-state-investors, William Kerrins, a senior vice president of Paine/Wetzel/TCN Worldwide, told GlobeSt.com.
Kerrins, along with Elise Couston from Paine, represented the seller, and Jim Planey of Lee & Associates and Josh Waddel of MGW represented the buyer, both of whom were not disclosed.
"It's called the hub city," Kerrins said of Rochelle, a town in Northern Illinois about 75 miles west of Chicago. The future business park sits adjacent to major interstates like I-88 and I-39, as well as two major rail lines and the new Union Pacific Intermodal Facility. Kerrins expects the land, which the town has zoned for industrial use, will eventually host manufacturing companies.
Nippon Sharyo, he points out, just established a giant railcar manufacturing plant less than a mile away. "What may happen is, currently most of their suppliers are located in Japan," and the company could bring some of its suppliers into the Rochelle area to cut costs. Town officials, he added, recently visited Japan and hopefully will convince these companies that Rochelle has the infrastructure to support their operations.
However, this development will take time. Currently, the land is used for farming, which allows the owner to pay a lower tax rate. "Every farmer nearby would love to sell their land, but the market slowed down," Kerrins said. The new owners may consider this parcel an investment, but "when the market changes and the demand picks up, they'll be ready to go."
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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.
