Brookfield Properties buys two Chicago industrial buildings for $24.4M

Brookfield Property Group bought two industrial properties in Chicago for $24.4 million, expanding its logistics portfolio in Illinois to 17.

The firm picked up buildings at 4435 South Western Boulevard and at 2300 West 47th Street sitting on more than 1.2 million square feet of land, Cook County property records show. Wheatland Tube LLC, a Pennsylvania steel products manufacturer, was the seller.

Brookfield Properties, which operates real estate investments on behalf of Brookfield Asset Management, has more than 800 properties across the world, the company’s website shows. The real estate investment firm has more than 175 warehouse, distribution and cold storage properties including 15 in Illinois.

The company didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Brookfield’s industrial purchases in recent weeks include a 85,000-square-foot warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, for $45 million. Amazon Fresh uses it for its grocery delivery service. The firm also bought a 12-acre property in Los Angeles from Interstate 5 Firestone for about $55 million last month.

The industrial real estate market has been expanding nationwide, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. In Chicago, the increased need for last-mile warehouses is boosting an already strong market. As companies bring production back to the U.S., the industry is poised for more growth.

About 27.8 million square feet are in the pipeline — more than double the industrial properties built this year, according to JLL. In contrast to the high office building occupancy rate, only about 4.4 percent of Chicago’s big-box warehouse space was vacant in the third quarter this year.