EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. — Amazon has unveiled plans to open two fulfillment centers in Edwardsville, approximately 30 miles northeast of St. Louis, Mo. The two facilities will create more than 1,000 full-time jobs. Each facility will span more than 700,000 square feet and be located where employees pick, pack and ship items. One building will specialize in handling larger items such as big-screen televisions, sports equipment and kayaks. The other building will handle smaller items such as books, toys and electronics.
BOLINGBROOK, ILL. — Peak Construction Corp. has broken ground on a four-story, 77,000-square-foot Marriott Residence Inn in Bolingbrook, approximately 30 miles south of Chicago. The hotel will feature 103 rooms, a swimming pool, outdoor patio with picnic area and a multi-purpose sports court. Hallmark Investment Corp. and Love Hotel Management Co. are overseeing the project. Norr Architects is providing architectural services, and Manhard Consulting Ltd. is the civil engineer. The project is slated for completion next spring.
RICHTON PARK, ILL. — Novak Construction has completed a new 184,000-square-foot, $18.3 million Walmart Supercenter in Richton Park, approximately 35 miles south of Chicago. The store includes a grocery, produce and bakery area; vision center; photo center; electronics and sporting goods departments; credit service station; indoor and outdoor garden center; and indoor pharmacy with drive-thru. The 28-acre site also included two detention basins, a frontage road, retaining wall, parking for 800 cars and a full-service fueling center. The adjacent roadways were widened to accommodate the new store, and traffic signals were added to the intersections. Construction took eight months to complete. Merriam, Kan.-based BRR Architecture Ltd. designed the project.
CHICAGO — Power Home Remodeling Group has signed a long-term lease for 31,000 square feet at the Bradley Business Center in Chicago. The company is relocating from 9450 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Rosemont where it occupied 7,000 square feet. Power Home Remodeling will use 21,000 square feet of space for offices and the remainder of the space will be used as warehouse space. The facility, located at 2500 W. Bradley Place, will serve as the company’s Midwest headquarters when the lease goes into effect this November. The mixed-use building features amenities such as a fitness center, rooftop deck, conference center, event space, bike storage and ample parking. Hansen Realty Services and Centrum Partners own the 500,000-square-foot Bradley Business Center, which is 86 percent occupied. Brett Berlin represented the ownership in-house. Marilyn Lissner and Joseph Gatto of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the transaction.
CHICAGO — CA Ventures and The Habitat Co. have formed a partnership whereby Habitat will manage a $600 million multifamily portfolio owned by CA Ventures. The five-property, 1,215-unit portfolio features four assets under construction and one that opened early this year. Additionally, the Chicago-based firms plan to pursue co-development and investment opportunities in select markets throughout the United States, targeting properties between $40 million and $120 million. “Since our inception, we have worked tirelessly to unearth opportunity in niche markets — both geographically and in various sectors of commercial real estate — where few other developers have thought to look,” says Tom Scott, CEO of CA Ventures. “Our strategic alliance with The Habitat Co. is one of many relationships we’ve established along the way and will supplement our development and investment expertise with best-in-class management services for which Habitat has been known for the past 45 years.” Habitat will initially oversee operations at the following CA Residential communities, which are in various stages of development: * The Buckler is an 11-story, 207-unit luxury rental community located west of the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee. The development opened in early 2016 and is currently in lease-up. * 8 E. Huron is …
The Chicago industrial market continues its charge full steam ahead in 2016, driven by strong fundamentals, our diverse economy, intense investor demand and constrained development. After a strong first quarter, the second quarter seems to be keeping pace. Demand remains high and continues to outpace new construction. We will also see more new projects announced as developers see continued success with existing projects. At the end of the first quarter, the overall vacancy rate in metro Chicago was slightly over 7 percent, down 10 basis points from the end of 2015, according to CoStar Group. All of the major submarkets posted vacancy rates of 10.1 percent or lower. Robust leasing activity Positive absorption in the first quarter was approximately 3.4 million square feet. Chicago has seen positive absorption every year since 2011, and this year looks to be headed in the same direction. The most active submarkets of O’Hare, I-55 and I-80 recorded vacancy rates of approximately 4.8 percent, 7.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively. Vacancy rates in those submarkets will continue to improve as speculative development is gobbled up as quickly as it is built, and existing product continues to get leased up. The I-80 and I-55 submarkets alone …
HUNTLEY, ILL. — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has brokered the sale of a 14,366-square-foot retail property in Huntley, approximately 50 miles northwest of Chicago, for $4.3 million. Huntley Grove, built in 2008, is 93 percent occupied by tenants such as AT&T, The UPS Store, Sprint, Tropical Smoothie, Great Clips and ATI Physical Therapy. Dan Cooper of Cooper Commercial represented the seller, an Ohio-based private investment group, in the transaction. Cooper Commercial also secured the Pennsylvania-based buyer.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Novak Construction has finished remodeling a 5,000-square-foot Panera Bread restaurant in Downers Grove, approximately 25 miles west of Chicago. Interior renovations included demolition, new millwork, fabric panels and wall coverings, new ceilings, light fixtures, specialty artwork installations, flooring, bathrooms and kitchen line equipment. Exterior renovations included new signage, metal canopies, ornamental and decorative façade elements and outdoor seating with an overhead trellis.
CHICAGO — Chicago-based SVN AuctionWorks, which specializes in auctions and real estate brokerage services, has joined SVN Auction Services, a national platform providing specific sales and special asset solutions. SVN Auction Services is comprised of auction advisors throughout the nation that bring together local market knowledge and exposure to assets sales. Based in Boynton Beach, Fla., SVN Auction Services specializes in areas such as court-ordered sales, REO sales, foreclosure sales, tax sales, multi-property auctions and receiverships.
CHICAGO — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $53.2 million sale of a 33,597-square-foot retail property in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. The Ohio State Teachers Retirement System acquired the fully leased property, which is located at 1100 N. State St. Urban Outfitters occupies 19,007 square feet at the four-story building, and Maple & Ash leases the remaining space. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Eleven Hundred LLC, in the transaction. Michael Marks and Trisha Connolly of Cushman & Wakefield also provided financial advisory services.