Chicago Medical Examiner’s Office Eyes $15.5M Warehouse buy

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is poised to relocate following a proposal to buy two buildings from TradeLane Properties for $15.5 million.

The medical examiner’s office has requested approval from the Cook County Board of Commissioners to acquire the 80,000-square-foot, two-story warehouse at 325 North Ashland Avenue and the 20,600-square-foot warehouse at 1532 West Fulton Street, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

The buildings, which are next to each other in the West Loop, are owned by TradeLane Properties, whose founder and CEO is Neil Doyle. The move comes as the medical examiner’s office looks to replace its outdated facility at 2121 West Harrison Street, on the Near West Side which has been in operation for over four decades.

The Oakbrook Terrace-based TradeLane has owned the two properties since 2020. It purchased the buildings for $12 million ($150 per square foot) and $5 million ($250 per square foot), according to Cook County records. The proposed sale price would amount to $154 per square foot and a $1.5 million loss for TradeLane.

The Harrison Street office, which the county bought for $9.4 million in 1979, was intended to resolve overcrowding at the medical examiner’s previous location, at 828 West Polk Street. A larger, more modern facility is needed to support the office’s needs, a spokesperson said.

County commissioners will review the proposal after their meetings resume in September.

TradeLane is an investor and developer of industrial properties, with holdings in Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and Texas. It purchased a 13-building industrial portfolio in the Chicago area, totaling 825,000 square feet, from Oxford Properties in 2022, increasing its Chicagoland holdings to 27 properties at the time. Last year, it refinanced 25 industrial properties across the United States with $869 million from Northwestern Mutual and PGIM Real Estate.

— Andrew Terrell