CHICAGO—Many Chicago-area firms have recently decided to put money into new facilities, consolidating current operations into more modern facilities. Morgan/Harbour Construction, for example, has just completed the 143,000 square foot renovation of an existing warehouse structure into a new manufacturing facility for Semblex Corp. at 900 N. Church Rd. in west suburban Elmhurst.

Semblex supplies fasteners to the automotive, heavy truck, motorcycle, farm equipment and home entertainment industries. The company will combine three manufacturing facilities and its corporate headquarters into this one centralized location. It chose Morgan/Harbour as the general contractor to complete 27,000 square feet of finished headquarters office space as well as the conversion and fit-up of 116,000 square feet of warehouse space. JLL acted as the owner's representative, offering project management services, decommissioning and real estate consulting.

“We have specifically seen a significant uptick in business consolidation most specifically in the manufacturing industry,” Ben Warriner, executive vice president/partner of Morgan/Harbour, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the company is “in the planning phases of two additional projects. In a general sense, there is certainly a great deal of efficiency that can be gained in consolidating operations into a new building. Consolidation of a business is designed to lower overhead and production costs, create additional revenue streams, and attract skilled labor - all of which create greater economies of scale.”

Construction included the removal, transport and installation of more than 170 machines, accessories and equipment, each of which required locating specific electrical voltage/amperage/phasing, compressed air, specialized ventilation and plumbing services.

The contractor also incorporated pneumatic systems, specialized exhaust equipment and completed numerous building upgrades for logistical operations. In addition, Morgan/Harbour and JLL brought in a new 4,000 amp electrical service, new natural gas service and 60kw of back-up generator power to the facility to support its IT and life safety systems.

Morgan/Harbour had the facility ready within five months. In addition, it completed the required decommissioning and clean-up work in Semblex's former facilities, while also completing all machine moving and reconnection work ahead of schedule.

The construction team included Joe Zosky, vice president of construction, Rich Cassidy, senior project manager and Stan Martenson, project superintendent. The JLL project team included Bradley A. Wood, vice president, and Bret Culen, project manager. Cornerstone Architects provided the architectural services.