The Association of Industrial Real Estate Brokers (AIRE) has unveiled its theme for the Sixth Annual Virtual Tour and announced that through the first week in March it is accepting properties to participate in the program taking place on Thursday, April 16 at The Cube in Des Plaines.
“Mission Possible”, playing off the “Mission Impossible” franchise that dates back to the original 1970s television show and includes the Tom Cruise feature films is the theme for this year’s event. It provides a fast-action platform and backdrop for communicating large industrial occupancy opportunities that are available in the Chicago metropolitan area.
According to the event’s creative director and planning committee, the theme also describes the general view of the state of the industrial marketplace right now, an environment where the missions of developers, owners, investors and users are all quite possible to achieve.
“Look at the market today compared to a number of years ago when the vacancy rate was well into double digits, and transactions were stalled and new developments were extremely rare, if occurring at all,” said Brendan Green of Colliers and a co-chairman of this year’s event.
Mike Magliano of Cushman & Wakefield and the event’s other co-chair added that large developments that were more vision focused and future-oriented a few years ago have become reality in today’s marketplace.
The end result, according to AIRE is that there are opportunities at the Virtual Tour to be part of a high-quality, state-of-the-art production that provides an overview of the marketplace, the insights of a handful of industry experts and specifications on leasing and sale offerings across the 1.3 billion-square-foot metro area. The ideal candidates for properties to be showcased in “Mission Possible” are existing or planned big box buildings over 200,000 square feet. Existing buildings should be 28’clear or higher and feature precast construction. Land holdings are also encouraged to be part of the tour.
Once a property is registered, AIRE will provide standardized templates to develop four (4) slides for your property that will be used for the production of Virtual Market Tour. Media to be submitted for the featured property includes: Aerial Image (optional), logos for the park/building, brokerage firm with the listing and property owner/developer; various images including aerials, floor plans, ground photos, renderings and a site plan. To secure a place on the Mission Possible tour, please contact the AIRE Administrative offices.
AIRE is offering other opportunities to be part of the program, including general as well as food and beverage sponsorships. For more information about these sponsorships, please contact Gina Fisher at the AIRE Administrative offices at [email protected] or 630-510-4554.
The Virtual Tour is an adaptation of what up until 2009 traditionally had been an actual bus tour of the marketplace. AIRE member and associates would board buses for an afternoon tour of the market to get a closer look at issues and trends in the market and some of the current listings/offerings of industrial property owners and developers.
“Over the course of time, technology has changed our world,” said John Gledhill, who conceived the virtual tour concept. “To showcase how that technology could be used and to create a more compelling way to present properties, we adapted and changed with the times.”
Mission Possible begins on Thursday, April 16 with registration at 2 pm. The program begins at approximately 2:30 pm and is followed by a reception from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. The entry fee is $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Registration includes cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the reception to be held at “The Cube” after presentation. A cash bar begins at 4:30 pm. Pre-registration, which can be completed by downloading a registration for from the AIRE website, is encouraged to avoid delays entering the event.
The Cube is located within Rivers Casino at 3000 S. River Road (the northwest corner of River Road and Devon Avenue) in Des Plaines.
