Life Still Left in I-55 Corridor

BOLINGBROOK, IL-Midwest Air Technologies has leased 288,000 sf at 335 Crossroads Parkway here, another lease in the I-55 Corridor, where many industrial experts say property demand is filling up industrial sites and spilling over to I-80 to the south. The I-55 corridor has one of the best occupancy rates in the Midwest, with developers and tenants jumping after any vacant space.

Trammell Crow Co. represented a private institutional investor in the long-term lease renewal of the entire building on the parkway. This lease represents the entire facility. Jason West, vice president of brokerage services with the company, says though many say I-80 is seeing more distribution facility activity, I-55 is still feeling its fair share of deal flow. "There's no question that I-55 is the most active submarket in the state," West tells GlobeSt.com. "I think I-55 will continue, in the next five years, to continue to see ample deals."

He says Trammell Crow had arranged the sale of the property from First Industrial Realty Trust to an undisclosed investor in May. The manufacturing facility, built in 1996, features 30-foot clear, 28 exterior docks and four drive-in doors. West wouldn't be specific about the building's rental rate, but says it is within the corridor average of $3.25-$3.50 per sf. Sean Henrick also represented ownership in the transaction.

The corridor saw good-sized deals in the third quarter. In July, Atlanta-based developer Seefried Properties completed the lease up of its first building at Veterans Corporate Center, along I-55 at 380 Veterans Parkway. Plans for a second facility are now under way. Veterans Corporate Center Orbus Inc. leased 126,872 sf for a production center for its trade show and display materials. The remainder of Building I, 62,263 sf, is leased by Banta Publishing Group, a division of Banta Corp.