CHICAGO—Hillwood Investment Properties, a Perot company, has just acquired through its US Industrial Fund II three class A industrial properties in southwest suburban Tinley Park totaling 170,000 square feet, the latest of its moves to build up a significant platform in the Chicago region. In addition, company officials tell GlobeSt.com that within the next four to six weeks, the Dallas-based firm will have more than one million square feet of new industrial space under construction here.

“Our strategy is to both develop and acquire,” says Don Schoenheider, Hillwood's senior vice president. The company, which opened a Chicago-based office earlier this year, recently acquired 39 acres at Pinnacle Business Park in suburban Romeoville and later this summer will begin breaking ground on what will eventually be four class A industrial buildings totaling 638,110 square feet. The company also has some as-yet-unannounced projects that will push it over the one-million mark.

“We're seeing very strong demand throughout the region, and so far speculative development has been relatively restrained,” he adds, “and we think that is a good combination.” Last year Hillwood also purchased about 1.4 million square feet of industrial space located throughout Joliet and Bolingbrook in the I-55 submarket, Central DuPage County and the Elgin area. “Our goal is to expand our platform as quickly as possible and acquiring properties allow us to do that even faster.”

The three new additions to the company's stock also give it some diversity. The Tinley Park buildings, located at 7600 W. 185th St., 7650 W. 185th St. and 18501 Graphic Crt., range in size from 24,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet and average 25' clear height, and will allow Hillwood to serve clients that need smaller spaces. The price was not disclosed and the seller was a local investment group. The first two of its buildings at the Romeoville site will each have 200,000 square feet with 32' clear height.

Hillwood is best known for its Alliance brand that includes the 18,000-acre AllianceTexas, 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia, and 4,474-acre AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. But Schoenheider says all this Chicago activity by the company should not be a surprise. “Chicago is the second largest industrial market in the country and many of our customers are looking for opportunities in the Midwest and Chicago.”