CHICAGO-The American Production & Inventory Control Society, currently headquartered in Alexandria, VA, has signed a lease for 32,295 sf at 8430 Bryn Mawr Ave. at Citicorp Plaza. The term of the lease is 10 years and begins in April 2008, says Tony Karmin, EVP with Transwestern.

Karmin, Sheila Matuscak and Audra Sieradzki, all with Transwestern, represented APICS in the lease transaction. Robert Graham, with CB Richard Ellis, represented building owner Apollo Real Estate Advisors, headquartered in New York City.

The association, which was formed in 1957, will occupy the 10th floor and majority of the ninth floor, Karmin says. The space at Citicorp Plaza will be the association's new headquarters. APICS is currently occupying approximately 50,000 sf which includes conference rooms. The space at Citicorp Plaza is more efficient and there is a conference room currently being constructed in the building for tenants to use, he says. The 200,000-sf building is about 85% leased and the entire 600,000-sf complex is more than 90% leased. Other tenants include Diners Club and Sterling Commerce. The asking lease rate is $16.50 per sf, net.

APICS chose the building because of the efficient floor places and access to public transportation such as the Chicago Transportation Authority's Blue Line and the proximity to O'Hare International Airport, Karmin says. Additionally, as the largest tenant in the building, APICS will have exterior building signage which will be visible from the Kennedy Expressway, he says. The association had Transwestern perform a study to determine what area to move to with the other cities considered being Dallas, Cincinnati and Atlanta, Karmin says. “They took a long demographic study of all of the location cities around the country where they could be,” he says. The study looked at labor force, cost of living, salaries and the “ability to attract a good pool” of employees, Karmin says. “Chicago clearly came out ahead.”