Elion Partners has retained CBRE as the exclusive listing agent for Elion Logistics Park 55 (ELP 55), a 2,500-acre, rail-served industrial park. Located 40 miles southwest of Chicago in Wilmington, Illinois, ELP 55 offers three miles of frontage and a complete interchange on I-55, rail service via BNSF’s Transcontinental Mainline and potential for more than 30 million square feet of product.
When real estate investment firm Elion Partners acquired the property, formerly known as RidgePort Logistics Center, the park featured 11,397,057 square feet. ELP 55 has recently grown through strategic land acquisitions and the approximately $2 billion project to expand the Park is on track. Jeff Kapcheck and Jason Lev, senior vice presidents with CBRE, will represent Elion, the park’s owner and developer, in leasing efforts.
“This is one of the premier industrial opportunities in the region, with access to both rail and a major interstate,” said Kapcheck. “We are confident it will be attractive to national and international distribution firms that need to improve their logistics supply chain.”
The master-planned park is ideally situated to enhance distribution and supply-chain networks, with direct access to nearby intermodal opportunities, the greater Chicago market and surrounding Midwest. The park currently has 140 acres set aside for planned commercial development, and today includes a full-service TA Petro Travel Plaza, on-site first responders station slated for completion in Q4 2019 and 40 acres of wetlands with pedestrian walking paths.
“Since inception, the vision for ELP 55 focuses on the convergence of modern logistics demands with amenities, particularly for companies facing increased demands for faster delivery to consumers in our current age of e-commerce,” said Andrew Rohacik, director of asset management at Elion.
Elion plans to provide the park with enhanced amenities for truckers, including showers, laundry, vehicle service, business services, restaurants and entertainment.
This is needed now more than ever, to address the lifestyle and health challenges truckers face such as lack of access to healthy food choices and opportunities to exercise,” said Rohacik. “Delivering a mixed-use logistics park to tenants aligns with the continued changes in the transportation industry, and Elion is proud to be a leader of change with this project”
Currently, the park holds 6.3 million square feet of multi-tenant and build-to-suit space, which includes businesses such as Michelin, Post and Lineage. The existing availability is with an 810,900-square-foot speculative facility, which could be expanded to 1.2 million square feet and is ready for occupancy.
“For firms that need access to intermodal, ELP 55 is a top contender,” said Lev. “The proximity to a huge population base makes this location ideal for distribution, e-commerce and cold-storage providers that need to reach consumers rapidly.”
With 2,500 acres of availability, ownership can fast-track new development on projects ranging from 150,000 to 2 million square feet for targeted users. The park has a landlord-controlled $140 million TIF, sponsored by the city of Wilmington, which translates into lower real estate taxes for corporate occupiers.
The Chicago industrial market has been on a historic run, as 2018 closed with the 34th consecutive quarter of positive absorption and total annual absorption at 19.9 million square feet. The majority of users have been distribution and logistics providers. With active users looking for 22.1 million square feet, supply is not meeting current demand.
“We have seen an unprecedented amount of activity in Chicago’s distribution and logistics market in recent years and users continue to look to expand,” said Kapcheck. “We expect this activity to continue for the foreseeable future and few locations will provide opportunity similar to ELP 55.”