Alsip- based Advertising Resources, Inc. (ARI) Packaging recently signed a 445,479-square-foot 10-year lease for all of 456 International Parkway in Minooka, Illinois.
The building is located in Liberty Business Center Minooka, a park where Liberty Property Trust owns additional sites earmarked for future development. Transwestern Vice President Fred Freeman, Principal Thomas Boyle, and Director Jared Paff represented the tenant in the transaction.
“ARI Packaging considered over 30 locations, but eventually selected this location based upon the following criteria: highway access, occupancy schedule, labor market, proximity to vendors and clients and being in a pro-business community,” said Freeman who also represented ARI Packaging in its Ontario, California, lease.
“We followed a very comprehensive process, examining numerous alternatives,” said Boyle. “I think we did identify the best alternative for them in the market, and I think it’s going to serve them well in the coming years. The building that we selected has expansion capacity; we have a very willing landlord, and we have—what we think—is a premier tenant in the marketplace.”
“Having looked over originally 30 different alternatives,” Boyle continued, “One of the things becoming increasingly apparent to us as real estate providers to corporate America is that accessibility to labor is a very important site selector.”
Launched in 2000, ARI Packaging specializes contract manufacturing, custom assembly, repacking, open food product packaging, and fulfillment for point-of-sale purchase. The company occupies 565,000 square feet at its Alsip headquarters and space at smaller warehouses in California and Virginia (126,000 square feet). The Minooka site will feature both manufacturing and distribution functions.
Crain’s reported that the company needed more warehouse space to accommodate its rapid growth. The privately held firm was on Crain’s Fast Fifty 2013 list of the fastest-growing companies in the area, with $41.5 million in revenue, up 238 percent over five years. At the time, Kraft Foods Group Inc. and spinoff Mondelez International Inc. accounted for 75 percent of the company’s business.
“Our client had an immediate occupancy goal in mind,” said Boyle. “We pursued and were successful in expediting our negotiations with the landlord. The party’s really came together. Once we finalized the business terms, we had the attorney’s expedite their comment periods, and were able to result in a signed lease in a much more sooner typical time frame.”
“We feel strongly that Liberty Business Center Minooka has the potential to attract high quality tenants looking to establish in this market or that need room to grow,” said Don Schoenheider, vice president and city manager, Liberty Property Trust in a prepared statement. “We are encouraged by our leasing team’s ability to connect with a prospective tenant’s vision for space and provide the flexibility to make it reality. We look forward to developing this park in the coming months and years”.
Britt Casey, Al Caruana and Chris Lydon of Cushman & Wakefield represented the building owner, Liberty Property Trust, in the transaction.
Swedish furniture retailer IKEA also confirmed signing a lease “of a few years”, at 501 International Parkway, an 849,691-square-foot warehouse. Together, IKEA and ARI have leased more than 1.3 million square feet in neighboring Minooka warehouses.
The Minooka warehouse will be IKEA’s first distribution center in the Chicago area, serving seven Midwest stores.
“We’re pleased with this arrangement,” said an IKEA spokesman. “It will help fulfill our short term distribution needs in the Midwest.”
