DTZ represented Mondi, an international packaging and paper company in a 171,812 sq ft lease expansion at 1140 Arbor Drive in Romeoville, IL.
Mondi USA, formerly Mondi Packaging, has several facilities in the U.S. including the Romeoville plant (opened in 2000) serving the North American market.
Strong company growth necessitated spatial expansion in order to accommodate increased staffing and work loads. In May 2013, Mondi engaged DTZ Associate Vice President Robert Tamillo, CCIM, and DTZ Senior Vice President Anthony Burns of the DTZ Chicago industrial team to assist with the project. Mondi occupied approximately 120,000 sq ft at 1140 Arbor Drive. However, because Mondi had a lease in place through the end of 2015 and an adjacent tenant’s lease was not scheduled to expire until May 2015, Mondi seemed to be trapped in a land-locked situation with regard to acquiring the much needed 50,000 sq ft of space.
Mondi had two potential scenario/solutions to solve the situation: 1) expand nearby at another facility short-term and move back into 1140 Arbor Drive when the adjacent tenant’s lease expired; or 2) request the landlord to relocate the adjacent tenant within the landlord’s facility portfolio and expand into the full building. The cost was simply too high to move new machinery into short term space. A complete move of the operation was out of the question because it was extremely cost prohibitive given the term remaining on the lease.
DTZ and Mondi ultimately decided to work through Option #1. DTZ negotiated an agreement with Chuck Canale and Jim Estus of Colliers International, representing the landlord (LaSalle Investment Management) to allow Mondi to move its operation back into the same facility for maximum efficiency.
Additional details of the agreement were not released.
