4404 West District Boulevard

Ability to respond to year-end closing pressure opens opportunity to acquire and develop Class A product in a highly constrained market.

4404 West District Boulevard is a former grocery store chain distribution center located within the city limits of Chicago, IL, approximately six miles west of the downtown loop and in the highly coveted “food corridor”. The property was comprised of a 305,000 SF cross-docked facility on 21.4 acres of land with an adjacent 9.38 acres of vacant land that was suitable for the future development of a 220,000 SF Class A distribution facility.

Due to year-end closing pressure at the corporate level of grocery store chain, the property and adjacent land were acquired at an attractive purchase price. The existing building was functional and easily divisible for a multi-tenant lease-up strategy, however, a comprehensive capital improvement plan to upgrade the facility to meet modern distribution requirements was implemented which included expanding the size and increasing the number of loading docks, installing an ESFR fire suppression system and upgrading to high efficiency lighting. During the initial design phase of the 220,000 SF speculative facility on the adjacent 9.38 acres, a user for a built-to-suit of a highly specialized, state of the art 60’ clear freezer/cooler food distribution facility was secured. This unique opportunity allowed for the acquisition of a fully functional existing building at a favorable basis while creating value through the development a new modern facility for a best-in-class tenant who executed a 25 year lease. This project won the 2009 Chicago Commercial Real Estate award for Redevelopment of Year.