A Canadian manufacturer last week chose the Chicago region to host its first U.S. facility. Lion Electric Co. will manufacture its all-electric medium- and heavy-duty urban vehicles at a 906K SF facility under construction at 3835 Youngs Road in southwest suburban Joliet. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, along with many other state and municipal officials, joined the company’s leaders on Friday to announce the $70M project.
“The new Joliet facility will put Illinois at the forefront of a national movement to transition to zero-emission vehicle use, advancing our own goals of putting 1 million of these cars on the road by 2030,” Pritzker said Friday. “In Illinois, we know that a clean energy economy is about more than just vehicles it’s about healthier communities and jobs for those who live there.”
CA Student Living announces new CFO and COO May 7, 2021
Rob Saunders
CA Student Living, the vertically integrated student housing investment management company, has announced the hiring of Robert Saunders as chief financial officer and promoted Steve Boyack, a three-year veteran of the firm, to chief operating officer. The two will play a pivotal role in driving CASL’s growth, innovation and strategy over the coming years.
Saunders brings more than twenty years of real estate finance and investment management experience to CASL. Prior to joining the firm, Rob was President of Kaufman Jacobs, a multi-strategy real estate investment manager, where he served as the firm’s managing principal, overseeing all aspects of the firm’s operations, including capital sourcing, acquisitions, development, and financial reporting. Rob has also held senior leadership roles in both public and private real estate companies and holds an MBA from the Kellogg Schoo
One year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chicago-area industrial market’s vacancy and rental rates have nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from Newmark.
Although the industrial sector took a hit in the first few weeks of the crisis, it began climbing back once the shock wore off and tenants saw increased demand from homebound consumers purchasing goods online. Many resumed signing leases, sending vacancy down to 6.2% in Q1 2021, a decade low, and recently have shown a willingness to pay more for space. Courtesy of Newmark
“This sentiment of only a slight dip in the market as opposed to a full long-term stop is reflected in the rental rates on transactions completed during the pandemic,” according to the Newmark report.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed two new members to EMU’s Board of Regents at the end of Deember. In city news, the Ypsilanti City Council expressed affordable housing concerns with the Kaufman Jacobs development plan for Water St., and the Jim Toy Community Center will close its physical location at the end of January. Listen to this week’s news recap podcast on your favorite podcast provider, or read the transcript here.