LINCOLNSHIRE, ILL. — Panattoni Development Co. has broken ground on Lincolnshire Industrial Center in South Lake County. The project will include two facilities totaling 430,141 square feet. Building 1 will span 228,459 square feet on 14 acres, while Building 2 will total 201,682 square feet on 12 acres. Both will feature a clear height of 32 feet. Brett Kroner, Eric Fischer, Keith Puritz and Marc Samuels of Cushman & Wakefield are marketing the project for lease.
LIBERTYVILLE, ILL. — A Fortune 100 aerospace company has signed a 36,149-square-foot industrial lease at Libertyville 45 Corporate Center in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville. The development features two buildings totaling 334,299 square feet. The project includes 4,449 square feet of speculative office space, 48 docks, a clear height of 32 feet and above-standard parking counts. Keith Puritz, Marc Samuels, Brett Kroner and Eric Fischer of Cushman & Wakefield represented ownership, Oak Brook, Ill.-based MWI Property Group. The tenant is the first to lease space at the speculative development, which was completed this year.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Biopharmaceutical giant Merck (NYSE: MRK) has broken ground on a $1 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wilmington, about 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Known as Merck Wilmington Biotech, the 470,000-square-foot project will comprise laboratory, manufacturing and warehouse capabilities. Merck says the center will enable the launch and commercial production of next-generation biologics and therapies. Notably, the facility will be the Rahway, N.J.-based company’s first domestic site for producing cancer treatment drug Keytruda. Reuters reports that the Delaware plant is in effort to expand domestic production as Merck prepares to deal with President Trump’s tariffs. In its first-quarter financial results, Merck estimated that the impact of tariffs imposed so far would lead to additional costs of approximately $200 million for the company in general. Located within the 164-acre, 14-building Chestnut Run Innovation & Science Park (CRISP), the new facility will help foster growth in Wilmington’s biotechnology sector, creating more than 500 full-time roles and roughly 4,000 construction jobs. The laboratory component is expected to be fully operational by 2028, with production of experimental drugs anticipated to start by 2030. Pennsylvania-based developer MRA Groups owns CRISP, which is in the midst of a large-scale repositioning, and MRA Group is …
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — One World Energy LLC, a provider of renewable power solutions, has signed a 10,146-square-foot lease at Carrier Place, an industrial flex building located in the central metroplex city of Grand Prairie. According to LoopNet Inc., the building was completed in 1984 and totals 84,431 square feet. Jim Ferris of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Walker Floyd and Maddy Coffman of Holt Lunsford Commercial represented the landlord.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — JLL has arranged $96.5 million in financing for a portfolio of six industrial properties totaling 773,433 square feet in Northern New Jersey. The addresses of the properties were not disclosed, but the facilities are located within the Meadowlands and Port of Newark/Elizabeth submarkets. Jim Cadranell, Gregory Nalbandian and Michael Lachs of JLL arranged the loan through an undisclosed life insurance company on behalf of the borrower, Seagis Property Group. The portfolio was fully leased at the time of the loan closing to nine tenants in industries such as logistics, food production and distribution, fashion/apparel manufacturing and packaging/materials.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — On behalf of the United States Air Force Academy, Bryan Construction has completed Madera Cyber Innovation Center, a cybersecurity training facility for cadets in Colorado Springs. The four-story, 48,800-square-foot facility will be home to Air Force CyberWorx, the Department of Computer and Cyber Science and the Institute of Future Conflict. The facility provides the essential laboratory and workspace environments for cadets engaged in critical disciplines, including cyber engineering, cyber law and cybersecurity forensics. Designed by Clark Nexsen, the facility features a structural glass wall system and a free-floating, self-supporting curvilinear staircase. Construction of project included an extensive communication and technology infrastructure with 29 miles of cabling integrated throughout the facility. Additionally, Madera Cyber Innovation Center meets UFC 4-023-03 standards for progressive collapse resistance.
MONTVALE, N.J. — Fulton Bank has provided a $14.9 million construction loan for a 989-unit self-storage project that will be located in the Northern New Jersey community of Montvale. The three-acre site at 21 Phillips Parkway currently houses an 18,500-square-foot office building that will be demolished to accommodate the new climate-controlled facility. Jon Mikula, Michael Klein and John Cumming of JLL arranged the loan, which carries a 42-month term and a floating interest rate, on behalf of the developer, a partnership between Claremont Development, March Development and Battery Global Advisors.
PLACENTIA, CALIF. — Lee & Associates | Orange has arranged the sale of an industrial asset located at 1101 Richfield Road within Miraloma Business Center in Placentia. Davcal sold the property to Chin Kim for $3 million. Originally built in 1991, the 7,492-square-foot warehouse facility features 400 amps, 120/208v, three-phase electrical service; 16-foot minimum warehouse clearance; two ground-level doors; 3,000 square-foot of office space, plus a second-floor office space; and easy access to local freeways. Jameson Hearne, Marshal Vogt and Bryan Miller of Lee & Associates | Orange represented the seller in the deal.
By Enrique Volkmer, associate at Lee & Associates Laredo, Texas, has emerged as one of the largest ports in the world by volume and crossings, driven by its robust infrastructure and strategic location. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Port of Laredo was responsible for handling an aggregate amount of product valued at about $320 billion, the most in the country by that metric. In addition, a 2024 article from Transport Topics, citing data from the Laredo Economic Development Corp., stated that the Port of Laredo sees more than 5.5 million truck crossings per year. The article also noted that the port is home to 660 trucking and transportation companies, 250 freight forwarders and 120 U.S. Customs brokers. Recent analysis of freight costs conducted by LoadWise 3PL and OL Logistics found that shipping product from Laredo to several major destinations, including Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, actually yields savings compared to shipping from Houston to those cities, all other factors being held equal. The same study revealed a cost advantage when shipping westward from Laredo instead of Dallas to select markets such as Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Freight is often …
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Lee & Associates: Tariffs Add to Q1 Industrial Challenges; All Sectors See Constrained Development
The end of the first quarter of 2025 saw market uncertainty in the face of new U.S. trade and tariff policies combined with an unclear geopolitical outlook, according to Lee & Associates’ 2025 Q1 North America Market Report. The effect of these concerns within the commercial real estate world are most evident in the industrial sector, which is also contending with oversupply and softening rent growth. Development is slow across property types. Retail, despite high-profile store closures in early 2025, remains historically tight on space as years of underbuilding keep availabilities near record lows. Office demand has stabilized in several major metros following years of contraction, though vacancy remains elevated. The pipeline of new construction is both drying up and favoring new types of tenants beyond traditional office spaces. Multifamily is seeing strong tenant demand in certain markets despite a flood of new deliveries. Lee & Associates has made their full market report available here (click through for detailed breakdowns and city-by-city information). The information below for the industrial, office, retail and multifamily sectors offers clarity on market-wide demand, rent growth trends and challenges likely to shape trajectories throughout 2025. Industrial Overview: Soft Markets Face Tariff Disruptions North America’s industrial markets …