CHICAGO—4K Diversey Partners, LLC, has just executed a contract to purchase the 1,400,000-square-foot former Marshall Field's warehouse campus at 4000 West Diversey Ave. on the northwest side of Chicago. Now they just have to decide how to turn the currently vacant property into a moneymaker.
“We have a lot of ideas about what to do,” says Aaron Paris, one of the three key partners. However, they have been “competing so vigorously with two other bidders to gain control of the building and get a contract signed” they have not fleshed out a detailed plan. “Until last Friday, we didn't know if we were going to be the owner. We do know that [31st Ward] Alderman [Ray Suarez] and the city do not want these buildings torn down.”
The 21-acre campus has only had three owner-occupiers in the last 85 years. First the Olson Rug Company, then Marshall Field & Company, and finally Macy's Inc., used it primarily for distribution. Macy's vacated the the property in 2008. And Paris believes that the city's changing landscape will cause many smaller distributors to consider moving out of the West Loop and look to the northwest.
“Distribution does not work in that location anymore,” he says. The arrival of Google, which will soon occupy about 200,000-square-feet of space at the Fulton Market Cold Storage Building at 1000 W. Fulton St. in the West Loop, will help transform the old industrial neighborhood. The new office users getting pulled into the area won't like having to constantly avoid the huge delivery trucks long-accustomed to parking on the city streets.
“And there are attributes of the [Macy campus] that nobody knows about,” Paris adds. One 200' deep section, for example, has 30 service-height docks for city delivery vehicles in an enclosed, secured environment opposite 35 standard 48” dock-high positions. The trucks of any distributor that migrates from the West Loop will still have quick access to the entire metro area through I-94/I-90 “and not have to load or park on the city streets; this building is perfect for the West Loop guys. I think we'll bring a great deal of efficiency to their operations. They'll be able to do business without dodging traffic.”
The campus also has more than 400,000-square-feet of first-floor space including a 60' deep truck terminal with 22' clear height and a large private truck court with 58 docks.
“Fifteen years ago, this place served Marshall Field very well for their distribution throughout the city. The question is, 'can it ever be a great warehouse/distribution building again?' We think the answer is 'yes,' but maybe not for one big tenant.” The partners say they can accommodate users who need as little as 20,000-square-feet.
But bringing in other types of users remains a possibility. Paris says that Olson used to operate a retail outlet on the first floor. “Maybe that's something that we can bring back to life.”
Besides Paris, the former chief operating officer of Reno, NV-based DP Partners, the new team also includes Paul Fishbein, who helped acquire, design and redevelop the former 2,500,000-square-foot Montgomery Ward campus at 600 West Chicago Ave.
“That is unbelievably useful experience,” says Paris. “They had a great vision and knew how to put those pieces together.” Furthermore, he adds, “he's bringing some of the same players that worked on that building over to this one,” and this will give the 4K Diversey team expertise in things like evaluating their new property's power, heating and cooling systems and how to make whatever adjustments the new tenants might require.
Lou Silver, the owner of Studio 41 and ClimateGuard Windows, both of which are headquartered just south of the Diversey campus, rounds out the team. And one of his companies will relocate into the former Macy's project and use it as a distribution center.
“That's the game plan,” says Paris. “Here's a guy who knows how to distribute products across the city and he's saying this building works for me. It helps kick off the whole project and gives us credibility.”
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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.
