VIP Snaps Up Two More Industrials

CHICAGO—Huge, modern, big-box distribution facilities typically gain a lot of notice, but the smaller and older industrial buildings scattered throughout Chicago’s suburbs contain a significant portion of the area’s economic power. And many of these properties remain attractive to investors. Value Industrial Partners, for example, specializes in this class of industrial buildings and just closed the purchase of two more with a total of 91,000-square-feet. The firm now owns and manages dozens of similar properties with about 3.7-million-square-feet.      

The first, 1101-1133 Ellsworth Avenue in Villa Park, is a fully-leased 51,000-square-foot building currently occupied by four tenants. One of its main attractions was an 18-foot ceiling clearance, a rare find for buildings that provide units of this size in this submarket, according to VIP’s Director of Leasing Brian Gedvilas. His research showed that companies seeking between 8,000-square-feet and 12,000-square-feet in the Addison and Villa Park area have many options, but only if they could make do with a low clearance. But if they need at least an 18-foot clearance, these towns have nothing available.