As entrepreneurs breathe new life into aging industrial properties, institutional investors see an opportunity
The new Guild Row development near the Chicago River and Belmont Avenue. Photo by DAAM LLC, courtesy of Guild Row.
When partners Mike Healy, Jim Lasko and Elyse Agnello were conducting the site selection process for their member-based event venue, maker space, and commercial kitchen venture back in 2016, the team settled on a row of older industrial buildings near the Chicago River in the Avondale community. The aging structures at Rockwell and Fletcher were ripe for adaptive reuse, not just purely for the floor plan and total square footage, but because they were tucked into a residential area.
Tishman Speyer signed Ipsos to a 58K SF lease at The Franklin in Chicago’s West Loop. It’s another sign the downtown office market is showing some signs of life after more than a year in hibernation.
The 2.5M SF Franklin consists of two connected buildings at 222 West Adams St. and 227 West Monroe St. Ipsos will occupy the 11th floor, which spans the two towers, in May 2022. The market research company will relocate from 222 South Riverside. The Franklin
The Franklin complex features a number of amenities that Ipsos leaders said will ease employees’ return to the office. These include the café Rustle + Roux, a shared workspace called Studio, a 300-person conference center, and full bar and event venue R29.
Cawley Chicago brokers trade of vintage warehouse in Kinzie Corridor May 18, 2021
The Cawley Chicago urban development team helped facilitate another sale located at 451 Wood Street in the Chicago Kinzie Corridor neighborhood. This 12,500-square-foot warehouse building was recently purchased by Orbit Medical represented by Bill Lussow and Victor Sanmiguel with BeSpoke Commercial Real Estate. Principal, Zach Pruitt alongside Nick Schaefer and Will Thurman represented the private owner in this transaction.
“This sale is a testament of the positive evolution the Kinzie Corridor is taking. Our client owned and operated the facility for over 40 years as a warehouse, but now this barrel truss building will become the new flex-office for a growing Chicago business” says Pruitt.
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.