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Liberty Property Trust Makes Another Chicago Move

CHICAGO—The PA-based company had a big hit last year with an O'Hare spec, and that has it looking for more deals around the airport.

By Brian J. Rogal | brianjrogal | | Updated on March 24, 2016

 

CHICAGO—The PA-based company had a big hit last year with an O'Hare spec, and that has it looking for more deals around the airport. The Franklin Park Distribution Center is 53% occupied, but considering the level of demand in the area, the space could go quickly.
CHICAGO— Liberty Property Trust has scored some impressive deals in the Chicago market lately, especially around O’Hare International Airport , and that seems to have increased its appetite for more. The Malvern, PA-based firm has just acquired the Franklin Park Distribution Center, a 73,160 square foot industrial property at 11222 W. Melrose Ave. in Franklin Park, IL. The building is currently 53% occupied.   “The building is in quite good shape,” Neal Driscoll , vice president and city manager for Liberty, tells GlobeSt.com, and other than touch-ups such as new carpeting and lighting, the company is ready to lease it up. To Liberty, “it was a good opportunity to pick up a class A asset at the airport,” one of the region’s best submarkets, but without the hassle or expense of new construction. “It takes a huge amount of work to find a site around the airport,” due to the incredible density of the submarket. This distribution center, completed in 2007, lies just three miles from the south cargo entrance. It features 30′ clear ceilings and has visibility on I-294. Cook County property records show the price was $8 million.        As reported in GlobeSt.com, early last year Liberty broke ground on a 235,000 square foot speculative industrial building at 333 Howard Ave. in suburban Des Plaines, its first in the Chicago market, and one of several specs that had just been launched in the O’Hare submarket. And by the end of the year, Liberty had secured C.H. Robinson , a global logistics provider, as the sole occupant of the entire property. “We had it leased up before we even finished construction,” says Driscoll. “That’s indicative of what the market is like right now.” B y the end of last year, the O’Hare submarket’s vacancy rate had reached just 5.20%, a year-over-year drop of 78 bps and its lowest point since 2001, according to a fourth quarter report by Colliers . But with the scarcity of land, developers finished only four new construction projects during 2015, and Liberty’s building on Howard was the largest.     

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