Distribution Realty JV Plans 2 Chicago Industrial Projects

The spec buildings will rise at a master-planned campus along the I-88 corridor in Aurora, Ill.

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A joint venture between Distribution Realty Group LLC and a private real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital will develop two speculative industrial buildings in DuPage County totaling 140,000 square feet and 75,000 square feet, respectively. The projects are located at 925 and 805 Enterprise St. in the master-planned Meridian Business Campus in Aurora, Ill.


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The rear-load buildings will include such modern Class A features as 32-foot clear ceiling heights, LED lighting, abundant auto parking and a potentially high ratio of dock doors to square footage. The buildings reportedly are designed to appeal to high-end warehouse and logistics companies seeking best-in-class space in DuPage County within the I-88 Corridor.

The location also benefits from access to a deep labor pool and DuPage County’s low real estate taxes, Curran Darling, DRG’s Midwestern partner, said in a prepared statement.

He told Commercial Property Executive that DRG acquired the pair of sites from nearby CMC Materials, for whom the land was in excess of their needs. CMC is a global supplier of critical materials to semiconductor manufacturers and pipeline operators.

Darling also said that the project will be proceeding with a construction loan of about $12.5 million from Pinnacle Bank, of Nashville, Tenn.

Matt Knafel and Hugh Williams of MK Asset Brokerage will market the property for lease.

Arco Murray, a longtime collaborator with DRG, will be the general contractor.

Distribution Realty Group is privately owned and has offices in Chicago and Nashville. It has acquired and developed more than 4.5 million square feet of industrial and distribution facilities since its founding in 2013.

BTS outpaces spec

Just over a year ago, DRG and Crow Holdings sold a 517,500-square-foot warehouse in Antioch, Tenn., in metro Nashville, to PGIM Real Estate. Interchange Center I traded for $40.5 million.

Build-to-suit development dominates speculative construction in the metro Chicago industrial market, at 14.6 million square feet under construction, versus 8.2 million, respectively, according to a first-quarter report from Cushman & Wakefield.

The Southern DuPage industrial submarket has an overall vacancy of 4.2 percent on an inventory of about 15.1 million square feet. Year-to-date net absorption has been a negative 12,700 square feet, and no space is currently underway there, also according to Cushman & Wakefield.

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