CHICAGO—This summer, Northern Builders, Inc. will put the finishing touches on a 302,354 square foot speculative industrial facility at its Carlow Corporate Center in Bolingbrook, IL. It's their second building at this new business park, the last major developable piece of land in the I-55 submarket. The first was a 615,000-square-foot build-to-suit the company did for Best Buy.
“This piece of land was pursued for years by many developers,” David A. Bercu, principal, Colliers International, tells GlobeSt.com. However, it was never brought to market and Northern Builders bought it in an off-market transaction. And the company now has big ambitions for its acquisition.
“This is going to be a high-end business park with extensive water features and landscaping,” Bercu says. “It's not going to be your run-of-the-mill distribution center,” and Best Buy was “indicative of the type of user that will value this environment.”
Along with Colliers' Jim Estus, Bercu is representing the developer in the leasing of the property.
“Our long-term plan is to rollout an additional 10 buildings totaling over 3.2 million square feet,” says Matthew Grusecki, senior vice president at Northern Builders.
However, Bercu says this won't be an overnight transformation. “Since the market turned in 2008, there is a heightened sensitivity to overbuilding. So, Northern Builders' goal is to build out the park at a pragmatic pace, and pursue both build-to-suit opportunities and spec projects.”
Other developers are hard at work in the submarket, according to a recent report by Colliers. At the end of the first quarter, fourteen projects totaling 3.8 million square feet were under construction, all of which were set to deliver by the end of the year. Developers were doing 2.8 million square feet of this total on a speculative basis.
Northern Builders' latest project, called Carlow Corporate Center XVI, will feature a 36' ceiling clear height, cross-dock facilities, and expansive parking.
CHICAGO—This summer, Northern Builders, Inc. will put the finishing touches on a 302,354 square foot speculative industrial facility at its Carlow Corporate Center in Bolingbrook, IL. It's their second building at this new business park, the last major developable piece of land in the I-55 submarket. The first was a 615,000-square-foot build-to-suit the company did for
“This piece of land was pursued for years by many developers,” David A. Bercu, principal, Colliers International, tells GlobeSt.com. However, it was never brought to market and Northern Builders bought it in an off-market transaction. And the company now has big ambitions for its acquisition.
“This is going to be a high-end business park with extensive water features and landscaping,” Bercu says. “It's not going to be your run-of-the-mill distribution center,” and
Along with Colliers' Jim Estus, Bercu is representing the developer in the leasing of the property.
“Our long-term plan is to rollout an additional 10 buildings totaling over 3.2 million square feet,” says Matthew Grusecki, senior vice president at Northern Builders.
However, Bercu says this won't be an overnight transformation. “Since the market turned in 2008, there is a heightened sensitivity to overbuilding. So, Northern Builders' goal is to build out the park at a pragmatic pace, and pursue both build-to-suit opportunities and spec projects.”
Other developers are hard at work in the submarket, according to a recent report by Colliers. At the end of the first quarter, fourteen projects totaling 3.8 million square feet were under construction, all of which were set to deliver by the end of the year. Developers were doing 2.8 million square feet of this total on a speculative basis.
Northern Builders' latest project, called Carlow Corporate Center XVI, will feature a 36' ceiling clear height, cross-dock facilities, and expansive parking.
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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.
