Mesa West Capital originates $32M acquisition loan for Lockport industrial property

Mesa West Capital has provided the joint venture of High Street Realty Company and Angelo Gordon with $32.1 million in short-term, first mortgage debt for the acquisition, stabilization and rebranding of I-355 Industrial Center, a 611,576-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Lockport, Illinois.

Built in 2017 on a 33-acre site, the property offers two buildings, that are each approximately 300,000-square-foot and feature 32-foot clear heights, 320-foot building depths, 30 dock doors apiece and a shared, 185-foot truck court. The property fronts I-355, a major north/south arterial in the I-55 Corridor, one of the Midwest’s most prominent distribution hubs.

The five-year, floating-rate loan allowed the sponsor to take advantage of the off-market acquisition of a newly constructed asset in a maturing industrial market, according to Mesa West Capital vice president, Matt Snyder, who originated the financing out of Mesa West Capital’s Chicago office. The financing was arranged by Steve Roth, vice chairman, debt and structured finance, in the Oak Brook, Illinois office of CBRE.

“The buildings’ functional design provides leasing flexibility and the ability to attract and maintain tenants of various sizes and uses,” said Snyder. “The sponsor is planning additional docks to accommodate potential tenants in the 30,000- to 50,000-square-foot range, which will better market the property to a broader range of tenants.”

A portion of the loan proceeds will be used to pay for tenant improvements and leasing commissions associated with the lease up and stabilization of the property. The property is currently leased to one tenant, Berlin Packaging LLC, which occupies approximately 17 percent of the available space.