BELLEVILLE, IL-The state plans to build a $37.8 million forensic laboratory here for the Illinois State Police. The police will expand its current operations from a 15,000-square-foot office lease in Fairview Heights, IL.

The state is using Illinois Jobs Now! Funding to build the new facility, which will provide the Illinois State Police with enhanced crime-solving ability and give police agencies throughout the region a valuable tool for their criminal investigations. The project is expected to be completed by late 2012.

The 60,000-square-foot facility will include space and equipment for crime scene science, anthropology, trace and forensic biology, and chemistry; and polygraph, latent prints, firearms, and DNA testing. The building will be constructed on land purchased in 2007 from Lindenwood University.

“Bids for the forensic laboratory will be opened June 30, with contracts awarded and construction beginning by late summer,” said Jim Underwood, executive director of the Capital Development Board (CDB), which administers all non-road, state-funded construction projects.

Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau said the new laboratory will provide much-needed space to house the sophisticated equipment and personnel necessary to perform analytical processes. The new facility will also afford crime scene investigators space to process vehicles and other large items for evidence, as well as an examination room for a polygraph examiner,” Grau said in a statement.

For more than two decades the police force has leased 15,000 square feet of office space as its laboratory at the Metro East Forensic Science Laboratory in Fairview Heights, IL, a suburb of St. Louis. The rented space can no longer accommodate the agency’s technological changes, casework growth and staffing needs, Grau said.

MOLINE,IL-Citi Trends has leased 10,137 square feet at City Line Plaza. Publicly held Citi Trends, headquartered in Savannah, GA, is expected to open the store here in June. Mid-America Senior Leasing Representatives Mary Beth Menelli-Iveljic and Jaime Platt represented the landlord in the lease in the transaction, while Jim Sakanich with CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant. Citi Trends Inc is a value-priced retailer of urban fashion apparel and accessories, offering brands that include Rocawear, Coogi, Apple Bottoms, Dereon, Akadamiks, Mecca, Baby Phat, Ed Hardy and more. The company operates more than 460 stores in 27 states. The 112,849-square-foot City Line Plaza is on 1990 First St.

EVANSTON, IL-HFF has been hired to market for sale the Reserve at Evanston, a 193-unit, Class A apartment complex here. HFF is marketing the property on behalf of the seller, a joint venture of Atlantic Realty Partners and Invesco Real Estate. The property is at 1930 Ridge Ave., near the downtown, adjacent to Northwestern University and less than one mile south of Evanston Hospital. Completed in 2003, the property features studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 844 square feet each. Residents have access to an outdoor pool and sundeck, fitness center, bbq grill area and an Internet cybercaf