The estimated cost to construct the facility is approximately $9 million, not including land acquisition costs, says Bob Harbour, president of Morgan/Harbour. The acquisition cost was not disclosed for the nearly 4.5-acre site, but a 52-acre parcel near Interstate 80 and 80th Avenue in nearby Tinley Park, IL sold for about $250,000 per acre.

American Technical Publishers (ATP) publishes training materials for career and technical education industrial and apprenticeship programs. The company is at 1155 W. 175th St. ATP has about 10,000 sf to 12,000 sf of office space in the industrial building, and will be expanding to 33,000 sf of office space in the new headquarters, Harbour says. Construction has already begun, with the building scheduled to be complete in fall 2008.

The facility will be constructed with environmentally friendly and energy efficient features, such as a white reflective energy-efficient roof, bioswales, energy efficient glass and recycled or locally produced materials, Harbour says. The building, which is expected to be LEED certified, will have sunshades on exterior windows that will reflect natural light onto the interior ceiling to reduce the amount of energy needed to brighten and heat the building, he says. The shades will also act as a barrier to heat in the spring and summer. The building will have raised flooring throughout, which will house the heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, Harbour says.

Approximately 12,000 sf in the building will be leased. Asking lease rates have not been determined yet, Harbour says. Chris Gary, with Darwin Realty, is the broker for the building. Ken Wahlin with Morgan/Harbour Construction is the project manager. Helen Kessler, with HJ Kessler Associates Inc., is assisting in the LEED certification process and Archideas is providing architectural services for the project.