Komatsu Moves Into 105,000-SF US HQ

The consolidation brings together 300 employees from offices in Downers Grove and Vernon Hills into about 105,000-sf of space. Leopardo Construction completed a build-out of the space. Komatsu, a US subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., has a 15-year lease in the building.

Richard Underriner, senior project manager at Leopardo, said the work had to be done in a hurry. "We were given 16 weeks by the company," he tells GlobeSt.com. "It was a challenge to demolish what was already in there and get it done on schedule. They had some special bells and whistles, including putting in their own cooling system in the building to handle the LAN rooms, which they use to communicate with Japan."

Underriner says his company has seen a record number of buildout requests from companies who are taking advantage of a tenant's market and getting buildouts included in new leases. "There's a lot of people moving around, we haven't slowed down all year in projects in the suburbs and the Loop," he says.

The building is owned by Prime Group Realty Trust, which could not be reached for comment on the renovation cost or the lease rate arranged for Komatsu. Average net lease rates at the property, at the time the lease was signed in summer 2005, were $14.50 per sf.