Pizzuti, Molto teaming up on 274K sf industrial spec build

Pizzuti Companies and Molto Properties are building a 274,000 speculative industrial building in Aurora, hoping to cash in on the area’s hot industrial market.

Ohio-based Pizzuti and Oakbrook Terrace-based Molto’s plans call for the building to be constructed on a 16-acre plot near Interstate 88, the companies. It will be designed for single- or multi-tenant use.

Construction is expected to begin this spring, with delivery scheduled for the third quarter.

The developers are seeking to cash in on Chicago’s red-hot industrial market, which posted a 17-year-low vacancy rate in 2018. The industry has been bolstered by the continued rise in e-commerce and the need for distribution centers, but a new wave of industrial construction threatens to hurt the market.

There was 19.5 million square feet of speculative industrial development underway in the fourth quarter, leading to some worries that market could become overbuilt. So far, new industrial space has been offset by robust leasing activity, which hit a three-year high in the third quarter of 2018.

Aurora has seen its fair share of industrial development.

California-based Panattoni Development is building a 765,000-square-foot speculative warehouse in the city, one of the largest industrial buildings ever constructed within the I-88 submarket. In September, JBS Logistics & Warehousing inked a 382,000-square-foot lease in an Aurora industrial facility.

Pizzuti, which specializes in industrial development, is partnering with Related Midwest on a 351-unit apartment complex in the West Loop. Molto has developed at least 15 industrial projects in Illinois, according to its website.