IRG Secures 1 MSF Hyundai Lease for Chicago-Area Facility
The truck manufacturer's move is part of a $450 million investment.
Industrial Realty Group LLC has executed a long-term lease with Hyundai Translead, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co., for a 1.4 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Joliet, Ill. The property was previously the main manufacturing plant for Caterpillar Inc.
In addition to the Joliet facility, Hyundai Translead will also move into a second Will County location, a site formerly occupied by Canadian vehicle maker Lion Electric. When Lion leased that 906,500-square-foot property nearly five years ago, the property was intended to be the largest dedicated production site for zero-emission medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles in the U.S. Lion, however, fell on hard times, filing for bankruptcy protection in both Canada and the U.S.
Between them, the two facilities will create about 2,500 new full-time jobs and $450 million of investment, according to IRG.
READ ALSO: Industrial Construction Starts Drop as 2026 Begins
Headquartered in San Diego and founded in 1989, Hyundai Translead is a leading van trailer manufacturer in North America, producing dry and refrigerated van trailers, flatbeds, truck bodies and dollies. Also among its products are XCIENT fuel cell trucks.
Onno Steger, senior vice president at IRG, arranged the Joliet transaction. Darwin PW Realty Principals Jerry Sullivan and Ed Wabick represented the landlord, while John Greene Commercial Senior Vice President Shamus Conneely of represented the tenant.
Big company, big moves
Both moves, while involving major manufacturing facilities, are just part of Hyundai Motor Group’s commitment to invest $26 billion across the U.S. through 2028.
In another facet of this push, Hyundai will build a new $5.8 billion steel mill in Donaldsonville, La. Further, Hyundai will develop a robotics facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 units. The automaker acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021 and, earlier in 2025, announced plans to use bipedal robots at its auto factories.
The I-80/Joliet corridor had a total availability of 10.9 percent on a 123.1 million square feet at year-end, according to a fourth-quarter report from NAI Hiffman. Net absorption in 2025 was 7.3 million square feet, with 2.7 million square feet of new supply added and 1.4 million under construction. That level of activity led all Chicago-area submarkets in 2025, Hiffman reported.
You must be logged in to post a comment.