Westmount, Stockbridge JV Acquire 1.7M SF in Chicago Region

CHICAGO— A joint venture of Dallas-based Westmount Realty Capital and real estate investment management firm Stockbridge of San Francisco has acquired a 1.7-million-square-foot light industrial portfolio in the Chicago region.

Stockbridge acquired the portfolio on behalf of the firm’s Value Fund III, a closed-end value-add vehicle. The portfolio includes 38 buildings in the Chicago’s submarkets of O’Hare, Lake County and Elgin. With its latest purchase, Westmount now has a portfolio of more than 6.3 million square feet of industrial space in Chicagoland.

No financial details of the transaction were released. The light industrial portfolio is currently 95% leased to more than 280 tenants. The portfolio’s 38 buildings were constructed in the 1970s through 2000s.

“Westmount is purchasing a large quantity of well-located light industrial assets,” says Brian Scruggs, managing director –industrial acquisitions of Westmount. “Increasing our already strong presence in the Midwest, both as an owner and manager, we will apply economies of scale to maximize the value potential of this investment.”

Approximately half of the portfolio (757,557 square feet) is in Elk Grove Village immediately adjacent to the northwest side of O’Hare International Airport and alongside the O’Hare Western Access project. Designated a “Project of National and Regional Significance” by federal transportation legislation, this multibillion-dollar infrastructure project provides 17 miles of new roads, including a new roadway around the western border of O’Hare, linking I-90 and the Tri-State Tollway. The O’Hare assets are located on approximately 47 acres of contiguous land.

Westmount reports the remainder of the portfolio is located in three separate business parks in the northern suburbs of Buffalo Grove (405,995 square feet) and Vernon Hills (281,246 square feet), and the western suburb of Elgin (236,720 square feet).

“The portfolio is an ideal strategic fit for our value-add fund series, providing the opportunity to acquire four well-located industrial parks and enhance operations through a light renovation program,” says Dan Weaver, managing director, Stockbridge.

Clifford Booth, CEO of Westmount, adds the firm remains bullish on the Chicago industrial market and is currently looking for off-market industrial deals in key submarkets in the region. Booth notes that with its latest purchase, the firm is looking to expand its Chicago regional office with the addition of nearly a dozen new positions.

Last month, Westmount acquired 949 at the District, a 154-unit multifamily community located at 949 South Longmore St. in Mesa, near Phoenix. Built in 1979, 949 at the District offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans that average 825 square feet.

The deal marked the real estate investment company’s first acquisition in Arizona and its first multifamily purchase outside of Texas.