Bridge Development Partners and PREMIER Design + Build Group have officially broken ground on Phase III of the Bridge Point North project in Waukegan, Illinois. Phase III will consist of four new buildings, totaling 918,972 square feet, and will be the final addition to the 225-acre, master-planned Bridge Point North campus that Bridge has been actively developing since 2015.
PREMIER is managing design-build services for each of the Phase III buildings, which will range in size from 100,314 to 500,800 square feet and will cater to users from 20,000 square feet and larger. Each of the four buildings will have state-of-the-art specifications including 32- to 36-foot clear ceiling heights, ample exterior dock positions and drive-in doors, as well as ESFR sprinklers. Building IX additionally offers frontage along Waukegan Road and over 100 trailer parking stalls.
“We are very excited to start construction on the final phase of Bridge Point North,” said Nick Siegel, vice president at Bridge Development Partners. “The demand for state-of-the-art industrial spaces like this has truly grown in the Lake County area, and has already made this a highly successful project. As we begin developing the last available land on this site, we expect to welcome even more high-quality tenants looking to take advantage of our first-class facilities and the many opportunities in Chicagoland’s thriving industrial market.”
After acquiring the Bridge Point North campus in 2015, Bridge successfully transformed the once-private property into a highly successful, Class-A industrial park through two separate development phases. Phase I—which is now 100 percent leased—consisted of two buildings across 1,027,606 square feet and was delivered in 2017. Phase II—which consisted of three buildings totaling 926,947 square feet—was completed earlier this year, and was 70 percent leased when it was sold to a global real estate investment management firm.
“PREMIER is proud to have been involved in the design and construction of this impressive development since the early phases,” said PREMIER’s senior vice president and Midwest market leader, Michael Long. “We’re excited to be starting work on the next chapter, which will add nearly 1 million square feet of Class A space in Waukegan.”
The business park has attracted multiple high-quality tenants since its inception, including Amazon, Medline, Thermoflex and Bolke-Miller Corporation. Bridge has also brought several large institutional real estate investment management firms to the park through the sale of each of the first two phases.
Jon Bennett and Joe Ahrens will serve as PREMIER’s project managers for Phase III and PREMIER’s project superintendent is Tom Johnson, working with Long and senior vice president of field operations, Ronald Nelsen. Cornerstone Architects Ltd. provided architectural design services while LJB, Inc. and Manhard Consulting will provide structural and civil engineering services for the project. Whit Heitman, Sam Badger and Jared Paff with CBRE are the exclusive leasing agents on the project. CIBC Bank and Simmons Bank are the lenders.
Bridge Point North Phase III is just 1.5 miles from the four-way interchange at I-94 and Illinois Route 137, only 30 minutes to O’Hare International Airport, and 35 minutes away from Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Phase III Buildings VI, VII and VIII will be delivered in early Summer 2020, while Building IX will be delivered in Fall 2020.
