Massive Michelin distribution center sells for $130M

A 2 million-square-foot Michelin-leased distribution center in Wilmington sold for $130 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Investment firm Silver Creek Development acquired the massive property, located on a 91-acre site at 29900 South Graaskamp Boulevard. It is about 60 miles southwest of Downtown Chicago.

The seller was Transwestern Development Company.

The purchase was partially financed by an $80 million fixed-rate loan from Pacific Life Insurance Company, sources said.

It is one of the first major acquisitions in the industrial space for Phoenix-based Silver Creek, which specializes in residential, commercial and mixed-use development on the West Coast.

In a statement, Silver Creek’s Charles Essig said the company was “actively pursuing comparable industrial assets nationally.” Transwestern did not respond to an email request for comment.

JLL’s Matthew Schoenfeldt and Eliott Zeitoune advised Silver Creek on the acquisition financing.

Built in 2015, the property houses the tire-manufacturer’s inventory for dealers and automakers in the Midwest and Western markets.

The distribution center is in an industrial park formerly known as the RidgePort Logistics Center, which Ridge Development built. Ridge is the industrial arm of Transwestern. The industrial park was later acquired by Elion Partners, but Transwestern maintained ownership of the Michelin-leased building. In 2019, Elion announced plans for a sprawling complex at the industrial park, with up to 30 million square feet of warehouses along with a master-planned village that would include shops, restaurants and a hotel across 2,500 acres.

The industrial sector has been among the few bright spots in real estate since the pandemic took hold. In the Chicago area, industrial vacancy stood at 5.7 percent in 2020, according to JLL’s fourth quarter report. Demand has fueled a steady decline since 2013, when the vacancy rate stood at 8.8 percent. Meanwhile, average asking rent for an industrial property has increased, from about $4 a foot in 2010 to about $5 a foot a decade later.

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