TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008
by Jenn DankoChicago-> West CookNearly 100 years ago, the town of Cicero staked its claim as the largest manufacturing center in Illinois behind Chicago. Served by a network of railroads, Cicero attracted businesses that would become industrial stalwarts of the 20th Century.
Fast forward to the new millennium and many of the former manufacturing facilities-including the industrial colossus of Western Electric Hawthorne Works-have been torn down and replaced with strip malls and power centers.
But at the former site of General Electric Co., industrial activity is seeing a rebirth not on the manufacturing end, but rather in distribution.
At least that's what Opus North is banking on as it begins construction of a 550,000 square foot speculative industrial development, Cicero Business Center, located at the corner of 16th Street and 54th Avenue in Cicero. The 28-acre parcel will be home to modern warehouse and distribution facilities when it is completed by spring 2009.
"That whole area is mostly older, industrial buildings that were built between the 1940s and 1970s," says Mike Yungerman, senior real estate director at Opus North. Such manufacturing buildings were smaller in size and lacked parking, mainly because employees relied more on public transportation than they do today, Yungerman adds.
In addition to improved efficiency, the new business center will feature 32-foot clear heights throughout, a non-existent amenity in Cicero's aging industrial corridors.
"You can't find that kind of clear height anywhere in the (Cicero) market," says Yungerman, adding that full truck courts will provide onsite truck maneuvering and eliminate traffic back-ups along Cicero's narrow streets. He anticipates that much of the warehouse and distribution inventory will include consumer products that require local distribution around Chicago.
Logistically, the Cicero Business Center will include two buildings. Building 1, on 12.02 acres, will offer 260,725 gross square feet with 30 docks, 44 trailer spaces, two drive-in doors, flexible office space and parking for 169 cars. Building 2, on 14.23 acres, will offer 291,664 gross square feet, 30 docks, 65 trailer spaces, two drive-in doors, flexible office space and parking for 217 cars.
The center will not have rail access, but instead cater to over-the-road semi tractor-trailer and local distribution companies, especially given its close proximity to I-290.
"The leasing activity has been promising," says Yungerman, who says that while there are no pending tenants, interest in the property has been solid. As leases expire in the surrounding areas, distribution companies operating out of old manufacturing facilities will have the opportunity to look to the Cicero Business Park as a new option.
Leasing is being conducted by Vernon Schultz and Thomas Condon of Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler. Opus Architects and Engineers designed the project.
"In this case, we're taking advantage of an opportunity that's there," Yungerman says on the purchase and build out of the General Electric Co. site. "There's (not many) vacant land sites in the area."
General Electric Co. closed its Cicero plant in 1990. Opus North acquired the site from the company in a deal in which the seller demolished its existing facility prior to selling the land.
Walt Zegers and Cathy Howland of Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler represented the seller in that transaction.
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