ALTON, ILL. — U-Haul plans to acquire an 84,180-square-foot building formerly occupied by Kmart in Alton, about 25 miles north of St. Louis, in August. U-Haul, which currently leases the property, will transform the space into 700 climate-controlled, self-storage units with truck and trailer sharing and towing equipment onsite. The building, which had previously been vacant for eight months, is located within the Seminary Plaza shopping center. Madison Plaza Associates was the seller. U-Haul’s acquisition of the property was driven by its corporate sustainability initiative. The company says the adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-building materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings.
STICKNEY, ILL. — Timber Hill Group has completed a $2.8 million renovation of a two-building industrial property in Stickney, about 10 miles west of Chicago. Delta Logistics Inc. will fully occupy the property. A 25,000-square-foot building features 54 doors, 5,000 square feet of office space and two drive-through repair bays. A 13,000-square-foot maintenance facility features 12 drive-in doors and six repair bays. Renovations included new lighting, roofs, drive-in doors, windows and a new concrete floor at the maintenance building. Timber Hill, a private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and development of logistics-related industrial real estate, acquired the property early last year.
CHICAGO — Summit Design + Build LLC has completed the renovation of a 13,000-square-foot retail building located at 1504 N. Fremont St. in Chicago. The project added space for up to three retail tenants and the creation of 11 new openings for storefront windows. Summit also poured new concrete floors for a future retail tenant and completed landscaping with a new sidewalk. L3 Capital LLC is the property owner. OKW Architects served as project architect.
ADDISON AND GLENDALE HEIGHTS, ILL. — Darwin Realty has brokered the sale of two industrial buildings in Illinois. Westwind Industrial, a general contractor specializing in medical, industrial and commercial property reutilization, purchased a 37,560-square-foot property in Addison for $2 million. The seller, AIM Inc., will leaseback the facility. Noel Liston and Nick Krejci of Darwin brokered the transaction. The duo also represented Comtelco Industries in its sale of a 13,500 square-foot facility in Glendale Heights. IVM Chemicals Inc. purchased the property for just under $1 million. G. Pat Ryan of Combined Commercial Realty represented IVM, which is a European-based distributor of industrial chemicals and pesticides.
CHICAGO — The Howard Hughes Corp. and Riverside Investment & Development, along with Clark Construction, have broken ground on 110 North Wacker, a 1.4 million-square-foot office tower in the heart of Chicago’s central business district. More than 30 percent of the 55-story tower is preleased to Bank of America. Designed by Goettsch Partners, the Class A building is located between the Chicago River and Wacker Drive. Amenities will include a conference center, fitness facility, retail and dining space. Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase provided a $495 million construction loan. USAA Real Estate also provided an equity investment. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of 2020.
CHICAGO — Taurus Investment Holdings LLC has acquired a 2.9 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in metro Chicago for $201 million. The purchase was the final investment for the company’s US Logistics Fund I LP. The portfolio includes 51 assets. Currently 91.5 percent occupied to tenants such as Amazon, Ryder and Armacell, the properties are located in 11 of the 19 Chicago industrial submarkets, according to Taurus. CBRE and Capital One advised Taurus on the transaction. Venture One Real Estate was the seller.
CHICAGO — J.C. Anderson Inc. has completed a 26,000-square-foot office build-out for Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP in Chicago. The law firm chose to modernize its space on the 21st floor at 120 S. LaSalle St. The project features a new reception desk, open ceilings and private offices. Renovations also include an open layout and technology upgrades. Partners by Design provided architectural services.
ITASCA, ILL. — United Business Mail (UBM) has signed a 203,000-square-foot industrial lease in Itasca. The company will fully occupy the space at 801 Bryn Mawr Ave. UBM’s former facility in Bensenville is under contract to an undisclosed buyer. The new Itasca property will serve as UBM’s Midwest hub and features a clear height of 24 feet, 15 exterior docks, one drive-in door and 6,100 square feet of office space. At 2,500 amps, the building has more than five times the power typically found in these types of properties. UBM will use the increased power capacity to run dozens of mail sorting machines and air conditioning systems. Steve Kohn of Colliers International represented UBM in the lease transaction. The landlord was not disclosed. UBM provides commingle services, which involves presorting mail to maximize savings on postage.
WEST CHICAGO, ILL. — Lee & Associates has negotiated a 75,539-square-foot industrial lease on behalf of MAPEI Corp. in West Chicago. The property is located at 1701 W. Hawthorne Lane. Wise Plastics occupies the remaining portion of the 150,000-square-foot facility. Michael Androwich Jr. and Nick Eboli of Lee & Associates represented MAPEI, an international manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and other chemical products for the building industry. Michael Magliano of Cushman & Wakefield represented the owners, Cabot Properties and Blackstone Group.
CHICAGO — City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has selected The Boring Company to build and operate a high-speed transit service between downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport. Founded by entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Boring plans to transport passengers between O’Hare and Block 37 in the Loop in approximately 12 minutes each way by utilizing electric vehicles that run through new twin underground tunnels. The project will be funded entirely by the company with no taxpayer subsidy. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the project cost could be anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion. Boring was one of two final teams selected to respond to a request for proposals (RFP) issued in March by the Chicago Infrastructure Trust. The RFP was seeking a candidate to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an O’Hare Express service. The city will now begin one-on-one contract negotiations with Boring and present the agreement to the city council. The RFP required bidders to deliver express service from downtown to O’Hare in 20 minutes or less, cutting more than 50 percent off current travel times. Boring plans to reduce the trip even further to 12 minutes by utilizing autonomous “electric skates” that travel 125 …