The Dart Container/Solo Cup National Distribution Center, one of the largest corporate distribution facilities in the country, has been sold to CPA:18 – Global, a non-traded REIT affiliate of W. P. Carey Inc., a publicly traded REIT based in New York.
The institutional ownership was advised by Fulcrum Asset Advisors LLC, a real estate advisor and operating company based in Chicago and was represented by Erik Foster and Mike Wilson of Avison Young’s National Industrial Capital Markets Group, along with Brendan Kelly of the firm’s Global Supply Chain practice.
The Dart Container/Solo Cup National Distribution Center is a 1.6 million-square-foot warehouse/industrial facility at 701 Central Ave. in University Park. Based on the square footage, the transaction is the largest corporate distribution space sale in Chicago since January of 2006 and among only a handful of similar sales across the country during the same time period.
This activity shows that investors are continuing to focus on core distribution facilities in major markets across the country. W. P. Carey owns and manages an investment portfolio totaling more than $15 billion and is actively involved in buying single-tenant net-leased assets encompassing a wide variety of industries and property types.
“This sale sets a new benchmark for sales of large, corporate distribution facilities, eclipsing the value range seen nationally in recent years,” said Foster, who is the national practice leader of Avison Young’s Industrial Capital Markets Group. “This execution will be the standard that other owners strive for in their disposition strategies, yet one that can only be replicated with a specialized, synergistic approach.”
According to Real Capital Analytics, the most recent sale that compares with the Dart Container sale is the January 2006 sale of Kraft Food’s 1.69 million-square-foot facility in Aurora. That space was spread over three buildings that Kraft leased and the sale was valued at $55 per square foot. In 2012, nearing the end of the recession, the Clorox Company’s 1.35 million-square-foot distribution space, down the street from Dart Distribution in University Park, sold for only $48 per square foot. The Dart Container sale shows that pricing is now in the range seen before the recession.
The building, in University Park, is fully leased to Dart Container Corporation, a manufacturer of single use food containers. The company manufacturers more than 600 products and has facilities throughout the U. S. and in Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. Dart, along with Solo Cup, a $1.6 billion company wholly owned by Dart, uses the building as its Midwest distribution center and national logistics hub.
The state-of-the-art building, situated on approximately 90 acres, was developed in 2002. The distribution space features 32-foot clear height, 120 docks and three drive-in doors. There is on-site parking for 100 automobiles, and expansion for more trailer parking.
The property is located within the Commerce Center Industrial Park, along I-57 at the first interchange south of the Cook County border in Will County. It is eight miles south of I‐80 and for points east, west or south it is positioned to help users avoid I‐80 congestion around Lake Michigan. The distribution center is 1.5 miles from the four‐way, I-80 interchange at Manhattan-Monee Road.
