A private investor has bought a vacant industrial building near O’Hare International Airport with plans to demolish the existing structure and redevelop the property.
Jeffrey Provenza with DarwinPW Realty and Brian Carroll with JLL represented the private buyer in the purchase of the 103,000-square-foot building on 10 acres at 3600 River Road in Franklin Park, the Chicago Business Journal reported.
The purchase price of the property, which was previously used as a manufacturing facility for Dean Foods, has not been disclosed. The sellers, NDSM Franklin Park, listed the property with a $6 million ask.
“The new owner plans to tear down the building and redevelop it into a 100,000- to 150,000-square-foot industrial building with good loading and trailer parking onsite,” Provenza told the outlet.
Chicago’s supply of industrial real estate keeps shrinking, setting new record lows. With so much unmet demand for warehousing and logistics operations, competition for these spaces is tougher than ever.
The purchase of the Franklin Park property reflects the historically low vacancy rates in the Chicago area, and specifically the O’Hare submarket.
Developers are reacting, and have set records during the first quarter with 44 buildings totaling 23.7 million square feet in the project pipeline.
“Developers have been pushing to secure financing and materials to develop new speculative projects to meet demand,” Colliers previously told The Real Deal. “This trend is expected to only accelerate due to the tight market, with dozens of buildings being announced each month.”
The state is also helping to add much-needed industrial inventory. It is trying to unload the 23.4-acre Damen Avenue Silos that run alongside the Chicago River that were used to mix road-construction materials for the Illinois Department of Transportation, was transferred to the Illinois’ Central Management Services in 2005 after officially being declared useless. Initial bids for the property are due by October 19, and must be at minimum $3.25 million.
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