CHICAGO—The industrial market is off to a solid start for the year. Developers have found demand is sufficient to fill up properties they just completed, and the regional vacancy rate continues to sink.
Bridge Development Partners, LLC has been one of the metro area's most active developers, and it just signed a series of large industrial leases totaling just under 750,000 square feet at three Chicago-area properties still under construction.
“These are three large deals that are all really noteworthy in their respective submarkets,” says Steve Groetsema, principal – Chicago market officer at Bridge. “The pre-leasing aspect of all three transactions reflects the scarcity of available new product in these infill locations.”
Chicago's industrial market saw 6.9 million square feet of new leases and lease expansions during the first quarter of 2018, according to Colliers International. This activity resulted in the vacancy rate improving by 13 bps to 6.67%. Net absorption totaled 4.5 million square feet between January and March, the 24th quarter in a row this index has been positive. Developers completed fourteen construction projects totaling 3.7 million square feet during the first quarter of 2018.
Bridge's three new deals are:
- Royal Box Group signed a long-term lease for 323,343 square feet at Bridge Point 290, located at 1543 S. 54th Ave., Cicero, IL. This lease brings Bridge Point 290, scheduled for delivery in July 2018, to 100% pre-leased. Royal Box, a nearly 100-year old manufacturer and provider of corrugated, packaging supplies, graphics and displays, was represented in the transaction by Eric Steiner and Pete Roberson, Jr. of CBRE. Bridge was represented by George Maragos, Mitch Adams and Nicole Mentone of CBRE.
- The Bolke-Miller Co. signed a long-term lease for 308,107 square feet at Bridge Point North Building III, located at 1350 Bridge Dr., Waukegan, IL. The lease brings Bridge Point North III, totaling 544,429 square feet and scheduled for delivery in December 2018, to nearly 60% pre-leased. Bolke-Miller, a contract packager specializing in secondary packaging for Fortune 500 companies in the snack, health food and beverage industries, was represented by Whit Heitman of CBRE. Heitman, Sam Badger, Brad Weiner and Jared Paff of CBRE represented Bridge.
- Agility Logistics signed a long-term lease for 117,771 square feet at Bridge Point Franklin Park Building I, located at 10501 Franklin Ave., Franklin Park, IL. The lease brings the building, totaling 184,611 square feet and scheduled for delivery in August 2018, to nearly 65% pre-leased. Agility Logistics is one of the world's leading providers of integrated logistics, with more than 22,000 employees in 550 offices and 100 countries. Agility was represented by CBRE in the transaction. Bridge was represented by Jeff Provenza and Rick Daly of Darwin Realty.
All three buildings are owned by Bridge and joint venture partner Banner Oak Capital Partners, LP. Additional joint venture partners at Bridge Point North III include Globe Corp., Wanxiang America Real Estate Group and an undisclosed institutional investor.
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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.
