Midwest Industrial Funds Announces Major Lease of 408,000 SF

Midwest Industrial Funds Announces Major Lease of 408,000 SF

OAK BROOK, IL – March 2020 – Midwest Industrial Funds recently completed a major, long term lease for 408,000 SF at 6600 River Road, Hodgkins, IL.  This lease is for the north building within their Hodgkins Center of Commerce redevelopment and constitutes the largest new lease by square footage signed in the submarket since 2012.  The building was leased in under six months from shell redevelopment completion to a growing international auto parts supplier that is consolidating multiple facilities and expanding their Chicagoland fulfillment and warehousing operations.  Midwest Industrial completed the redevelopment of the building in 2019 which involved tearing down part of the existing building and rebuilding it in order to modernize the property with 45 additional exterior docks, a 60’ speed bay, new precast concrete and glass façade, new ESFR fire suppression system as well as a new roof and HVAC systems.  The property is uniquely located at the convergence of I-294 and I-55 in the same business park as BNSF’s 186-acre domestic intermodal yard and UPS’s 240-acre CACH facility which is one of UPS’s largest package sorting facilities in the world.

Justin P. Fierz, a Principal with Midwest Industrial Funds stated, “This was the largest existing industrial building renovation project ever completed by a developer on a speculative basis in metro Chicagoland.  It was also the most complex development project we have tackled to date and to see our truly unique redevelopment vision for the property validated by securing a long-term tenant with so many jobs is really rewarding.  We couldn’t have done it without all the talent and hard work our experienced development team brings to the table most notably Pat Schaner, our Director of Development, who quarterbacked the design, permitting and complex construction portion of repositioning.  We also could never complete a project of this size, scale and scope without the partnership and support of the local municipality.  The Village of Hodgkins was as supportive in our endeavor as any city we have ever worked with.”

Walter Murphy, Chris Nelson and Sean Austin of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, Midwest Industrial Funds, and Pete Roberson of CBRE represented the tenant in the transaction.  Midwest Industrial Funds is also the design-build general contractor and construction manager for the tenant improvement work which includes filling in the existing interior rail spur, various warehouse improvements such as pallet racking integration and power distribution as well as over 10,000 SF of new office buildout.