USAA Real Estate Co. to Build 450,000-SF University Park Spec. Industrial Project
March 29, 2004 - University Park, IL
The I-57 corridor's first major spec building will be expandable to 1.4M-SF; Cushman & Wakefield of Illinois to market facility.
San Antonio, TX-based USAA Real Estate Company has announced plans to develop a 450,000-square-foot speculative industrial facility within USAA’s 250-acre Commerce Center at University Park Industrial complex. The 450,000 square foot, cross-docked, pre-cast, concrete, state-of-the-art building is expandable to 1.4 square feet. It also has a 30 foot clear ceiling height and 50 foot by 50 foot bay spacing with 60 foot clear aisles at the dock walls for maximum interior space and flexibility. USAA Real Estate plans to break ground in early spring and expects to deliver the facility by year-end. USAA Real Estate Company, as the developer, continues to team with Cushman & Wakefield as the marketing agents for the project.
Upon completion, the new warehouse/distribution building promises to pave the way for further development along the I-57 corridor, an emerging sector of the south Will County market. For USAA Real Estate, the high demand for new product in and around Commerce Center , combined with the available Tax Increment Financing, has created strong momentum for developers to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible.
“USAA Real Estate has the ability, through our strong financial backing, to respond to a market that we believe needs speculative development such as University Park at this time,” said David Buck, Assistant Vice President of Development Services.
Cushman & Wakefield of Illinois senior directors Brendan Kelly and Mike Fonda, along with C&W director Hugh Williams are the exclusive marketing team for Commerce Center at University Park . Mr. Kelly echoed Mr. Buck’s enthusiasm for the new project, citing the area’s highly accessible location as a driving force behind its newfound popularity.
“There’s no doubt that this is a quickly emerging market,” Mr. Kelly said. “I-57 can get you to Memphis , to downtown Chicago and to I-80, and more people are beginning to see the merits of doing business here. Plus, we’re coming in with a facility that can be expanded to 1.3 million square feet, so we can accommodate any type of user.”
Mr. Kelly also noted that the project’s TIF financing “allows us to compete with business parks throughout the Chicago Metro area and key Midwest distribution hubs including Indianpolis, IN, Columbus, Ohio, and St. Louis, MO.…on a gross dollar basis, combined with state of the art features, we will be hard to beat.”
Plans for the spec building are being revealed roughly a year after the completion of USAA Real Estate’s initial build-to-suit in the Commerce Center : the 907,920-square-foot Solo Sweetheart Cup facility, which is located immediately west of the new site.
Commerce Center at University Park is located 1.5 miles from the I-57 Manhattan-Monee interchange, 5.5 miles from the Lincoln Highway interchange and 9.7 miles from I-80. It is less than 30 miles from the Gary , IN and Midway airports and 37 miles from the Chicago Loop. The site also benefits from close proximity—roughly one mile—to a METRA Community Rail depot, which also serves nearby Governor’s State University.
USAA Real Estate Company has more than $3.0 billion in assets under management and provides acquisition, build-to-suit and development services for corporate and institutional investors. The USAA portfolio consists of office, industrial, hotel and retail properties as well as investments in real estate operating companies.
USAA, the parent company of USAA Real Estate Company, has been serving military families since 1922 and has become one of America 's leading insurance and financial services companies. The association, well known for its exceptional service, offers its 5 million members a comprehensive range of insurance, banking and investment products and services designed to help them meet their financial needs. Headquartered in San Antonio with offices throughout the United States and Europe, USAA owns or manages assets of more than $74 billion.