Exeter Property Group buys 730K sf Joliet distribution center

Exeter Property Group picked up a 730,000-square-foot distribution center in Joliet, adding to the investment firm’s extensive industrial portfolio in the Chicago area.

Exeter acquired Laraway Distribution Center from Clarion Partners for roughly $45 million. Colliers International’s Jeff Devine and Steve Disse represented the seller, and announced the deal. Built in 2008, the Class A Laraway warehouse is located at 1151 East Laraway Road. It encompasses 34 acres and is fully leased to three tenants.

Distribution centers have been a hot commodity during the pandemic as e-commerce sales have surged. Companies like Amazon and others have leased and acquired last-mile facilities and other industrial properties statewide and across the country.

Chicago’s always-sturdy industrial market slipped in the third quarter, with vacancy rates rising to 6.72 percent. But in the I-80 Joliet Corridor, they fell to 5.95 percent, one of only four submarkets to see improvement, according to Colliers. Net absorption totaled 1.7 million square feet in the Joliet corridor, compared to 1.2 million in the second quarter.

The vacancy rate for Joliet dropped again in the fourth quarter, to 5.39 percent, the lowest recorded in the submarket since 2017, according to Colliers. The submarket is Chicago’s third largest by square feet.

In 2019, Pennsylvania-based Exeter secured $150 million in financing on a Burr Ridge warehouse it had acquired and targeted for a major modernization. The firm expanded its local portfolio about a decade ago, paying $100 million for about 30 industrial properties. It has more than 15 million square feet of industrial space in the Chicago market.

New York-based Clarion has been active across a variety of property types in the Chicago area in recent years, including shopping centers and apartment complexes.