PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI—As reported in GlobeSt.com, the southeast portion of this state has lately become the hottest industrial submarket in the Chicago metro area. And many feel it has even greater potential. WISPARK LLC and Zilber Property Group have already brought in users that occupy more than 12-million-square-feet of industrial space at their 2,400-acre LakeView Corporate Park in Kenosha County just two miles north of the state border, but have decided to begin a push to attract more office space and retail outlets to the area.
The companies have hired a team of brokers from the Chicago and Milwaukee offices of JLL to market a variety of shovel-ready office development sites — ranging in size from 4 to 22 acres — to corporate office users. In addition, the companies have also selected the Milwaukee office of Mid-America Real Estate Group to market the retail parcels – ranging in size from 3 to 12 acres – to retail, restaurant and hospitality users. The park already has a 410,000-square-foot outlet mall. WISPARK and Zilber have also rebranded this area of the park as The Gateway at LakeView Corporate Park. They will sell the land and can also serve as third-party developers.
“Industrial is clearly the leader in the area,” Dan Fernitz, a JLL senior vice president, tells GlobeSt.com. He is marketing the park's office sites alongside colleagues Robin Stolberg and Michael Streit. But there are signs that the submarket will also appeal to office users. The packaging distributer Uline Inc., for example, moved its corporate headquarters – and more than 600 employees – to Pleasant Prairie from Waukegan just over the border in Illinois. “That sent a message to the market that this type of move is something to consider.”
Uline has a combined office and distribution operation, and the four available sites at LakeView also have the potential for several uses. The sites have been zoned for office, but some portions can also host research and development facilities or laboratories. However, “you just can't do 100% R & D,” Fernitz adds. Potential office buildings can be as large as 325,000-square-feet with four stories or as small as 50,000-square-feet.
“Putting up an office building in Southeast Wisconsin is going to cost considerably less than a similar property in Illinois' Lake County and will have lower taxes going forward,” he says.
Other companies have followed Uline into Kenosha County. Amazon, for example, is ready to open two new warehouse/distribution centers with more than 1.5 million-square-feet. And since the beginning of 2013, the county has seen more than 6.5-million-square-foot of commercial development and absorption and added more than 4,000 new jobs, according to the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.
“There's been a tremendous amount of momentum in Southeast Wisconsin and, specifically, Kenosha County, over the past several years,” says Fernitz. “For the right user looking to seize the opportunity to do a ground-up development, this is the ideal site. We are marketing it feverishly.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
