Boston real estate investment services firm buys suburban Arlington Heights warehouse

A Boston real estate investment firm paid $18.4 million for a 375,000-square-foot warehouse building in Arlington Heights, betting that industrial real estate will have another strong year in Chicago.

AEW Capital Management bought the property at 1400 -1500 West Dundee Road from the Midwest’s largest family-owned auto dealer Rohrman Automotive Group, according to Cook County property records. Compass Evanston’s listing shows the property was listed for $22.5 million, about 22 percent higher than the price AEW paid for the warehouse.

Built in 1971, the building comes with 685 available parking spaces and nine loading docks, with a third of the Class B building used for office space.

Part of the site is home to the former Honeywell’s Arlington Heights manufacturing plant which specialized in high-tech electronic building management systems until it closed in 1997.

Rohrman also sold a neighboring 35 acres at 1100 and 1400 West Dundee Road and 1510-1530 Dundee Road to real estate development and investment company Ridgeline Property Group in September 2021. Ridgeline plans to build two warehouse buildings totalling 511,000 square feet, with at least 590 parking stalls.

Industrial real estate is off to a strong start, fueled by demand for last-mile warehouses. Rents soared to an all-time high of $5.90 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2021. Vacancy rates dropped to 8 percent during the same period, below the pre-pandemic level of 8.6 percent.

Plans for AEW’s new Arlington Heights property are unknown, but the company’s strategies include investing in office, industrial, retail and multifamily in major metropolitan markets across the world.

The company owns three properties in Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park, according to its website. Most recently, AEW and Miami real estate developer Mast Capital secured a $70.5 million loan to build a 342-unit apartment building on the Miami River this month.