Amazon buying massive steel plant in redevelopment play

Amazon’s enormous appetite for real estate in Chicago and across the state has focused on leasing space. But it seems the e-commerce behemoth also has room for a big acquisition.

The company has agreed to pay $45 million for a massive industrial site in Gage Park that could be redeveloped into a 1.5 million-square-foot facility, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Amazon, which last month reported another enormous quarter of revenue and profit, will acquire the 70-acre Central Steel & Wire property on the Southwest Side from Ryerson Holdings Corp., according to the report. Ryerson — which owns Central Steel — will lease back the property at 3000 West 51st Street for another two years, but the long-term plan would be for Amazon to redevelop it. The steel manufacturing plant remains in operation.

Nearby, an Amazon-leased warehouse at 3507 West 51st Street sold to investment firm GCP in December for $42 million. The per square foot price for that 316,000-square-foot facility made it among Chicago’s most expensive single-building industrial sales of 2020.

From March through July last year, Amazon leased 11 million square feet of distribution centers and warehouses in the Chicago area. It also recently leased 140,000 square feet in Winfield from Conor Commercial, where it intends to set up a distribution center, Crain’s reported.

In total, Amazon has plowed over $8 billion into the state, according to the Tribune.

[Tribune] — Alexi Friedman