Stonemont buys South Holland truck maintenance facility as industrial demand surges

An Atlanta-based real estate investor paid $25 million for a 10-acre truck maintenance facility in suburban Chicago, further evidence that the area’s industrial market is hotter than ever before.

Stonemont Financial Group bought the 43,000-square-foot building at 17201 State Street in South Holland from AAA Freight, Cook County property records showed.

Even as offices suffer from the pandemic, the area’s vacancy rate for warehouses plunged to a record low of 4.4 percent and 16.4 million square feet of new buildings sprouted in the third quarter. The market absorbed a net 27 million square feet during this year’s first nine months, exceeding last year’s total of 25 million. Industrial sales for this year are on pace to beat last year’s 2.13 billion.

Lee & Associates, which is marketing the South Holland property for lease, says it’s 40 minutes from Midway International Airport and offers access to Interstates 294, 94, 80 and 57.

Stonemont offers build-to-suit industrial development and spec buildings, according to its website. The company, which manages about 15 million square feet of industrial real estate, formed a joint venture in March with an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management to buy as much as $1 billion of industrial real estate.

The venture plans to acquire last-mile distribution facilities, truck terminals, truck and trailer parking and maintenance facilities, logistics properties, Commercial Property Executive reported at the time. The firms have bought properties in Illinois, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee, and haven’t disclosed how much of the target they’ve spent.