Conor Commercial Real Estate has sold Fountain Square Commerce Center, a four-building, 741,586-square-foot industrial portfolio in Bolingbrook, Illinois, to Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners for $73,500,000. Colliers International | Chicago represented Conor Commercial and partner, LaSalle Investment Management, in the transaction.
“We are very excited for the sale of Fountain Square,” said David Friedman, president of Conor Commercial. “We are proud to have developed a high-quality space in a prime location, designed with future tenants in mind. It generated an attractive development return for Conor and LaSalle, while providing an attractive value-added investment opportunity for Bridge.”
Completed in 2016, McShane Construction Company and Ware Malcomb provided the design/build construction services for the Class A, multi-tenant business park, which includes four buildings ranging in size from 109,088 to 320,532 square feet. The industrial center is surrounded by picturesque green landscaping, including a park with walking paths, wooden bridges and multiple detention ponds with—as the name suggests—fountains.
“In addition to its picturesque setting—a very uncommon attribute in industrial real estate, Fountain Square Commerce Center sits at what is arguably the most attractive address for logistics businesses along the Interstate 55 Corridor,” said Steve Groetsema, partner, Midwest region, Bridge Development Partners. “Bridge saw an opportunity to add value by acquiring the site and making strategic improvements through new development and enhanced leasing operations, aimed at attracting a very diverse roster of logistics and manufacturing businesses.”
Bridge Development Partners plans to develop a 216,320-square-foot speculative facility on the adjoining 12.03 vacant acres, which was included in the sale. This would bring the total size of the development to approximately 957,000 square feet across 67 acres.
Immediately following its acquisition of the site, Bridge signed two new long-term leases totaling 132,300 square feet within the existing buildings, bringing the total occupancy of the center up from 40 percent to approximately 60 percent. The transactions included a 98,400-square-foot lease with Bulletproof Logistics, a Quebec-based third-party logistics company, and a 33,900-square-foot lease with St. Louis-based distributor Industrial Battery Products.
Fountain Square Commerce Center includes ample on-site vehicle and truck parking, substantial dock door positions, efficient truck maneuverability, 32-foot clear height, ESFR sprinkler systems and office space to suit individual tenants. The warehouse and distribution facilities are conveniently located between two, four-way interchanges at Weber Road and Route 53 on I-55 and is in close proximity to the I-355 interchange.
The acquisition of Fountain Square Commerce Center was brokered by the Colliers International investment sales team led by Jeff Devine and Steven Disse. Bridge has retained the Colliers International industrial leasing team led by Jim Estes and David Bercu as the exclusive marketing and leasing agent for the property. The same team served as leasing agent under the previous ownership.
“Fountain Square is one of the highest quality industrial complexes in the I-55 Corridor and represents one of the best environments for mid-sized tenants,” said Devine, a principal with the Chicago office of Colliers International.
This deal comes on the heels of the Conor Commercial’s September sale to Cabot Properties of Northwest Pointe II. In that transaction, the 385,372-square-foot industrial building that Conor Commercial and joint venture partner Globe Corporation developed and stabilized in Elgin, Illinois sold for $29.85 million.
