Bridge Industrial Redeveloping Outdated Suburban Chicago Office

A 1960s office building in Downers Grove is poised for demolition to make way for a sprawling distribution center under plans advanced by Bridge Industrial.

The Chicago-based developer’s LLC received a unanimous recommendation from the Downers Grove Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone and subdivide two adjacent parcels at 2300 and 2500 Warrenville Road, according to public records.

The project would involve razing the two-story, 105,800-square-foot office building at 2300 Warrenville to build a 243,000-square-foot single-story industrial building in its place.

Officials cited the building’s outdated structure and market shifts away from suburban office campuses as justification for the zoning change.

The property owner is Ramsey Elshafei’s RE Development Solutions, which bought the buildings from Pennsylvania developer Patriot Equities in December 2017, according to DuPage County records. RE Development paid $9.95 million for 2500 Warrenville and $7.45 million ($70 per square foot) for 2300 Warrenville.

The property would be rezoned from light manufacturing to office-research-manufacturing. The development could house operations in warehousing, light manufacturing, food processing or the fabrication of custom interiors, according to documents submitted to the Village. But Bridge hasn’t announced a tenant.

The developer’s plans call for 164 parking spaces and multiple truck docks. The developer will also install underground stormwater detention systems and a sidewalk along Warrenville Road as part of public infrastructure improvements.

The facility aims to answer demand for distribution space near major transportation corridors. The project site lies just off the Interstate 88 and Interstate 355 interchange, an area the village’s comprehensive plan identifies as a hub for large-scale, high-value corporate campuses and industrial facilities.

Construction is expected to begin in the second or third quarter, pending final approvals and permitting, with completion slated for late 2026.

The redevelopment aligns with recent economic trends that have seen former office users increasingly opting for modern, high-clearance industrial buildings, steadily reshaping suburban commercial corridors.

Industrial leasing surged last year as high interest rates curbed new construction. Vacancy dropped from 5.29 the first quarter 2024 to 4.7 percent in the fourth, according to Colliers.

Build-to-suit industrial projects made up 83 percent of the active construction pipeline in the fourth quarter, while spec deliveries marked the third-lowest amount recorded in the past nine years at 1.6 million square feet.

Other players are betting on an industrial revival in Downer’s Grove, where Amazon inked a deal for more than 650,000 square feet of warehouse space just before the pandemic. Dallas-based Westmount Realty Capital acquired a nine-building, 391,000-square-foot industrial portfolio in DuPage County from Unilev Capital and Mandalay Industrial in February, when it was 91 percent leased.