A single e-commerce company has signed a lease to move into the gargantuan 1-million-square-foot “once-in-a-lifetime” industrial building in The Silos at Sanders Farm in Merrillville.
The Toronto-based real estate company Avison Young closed on the industrial lease at 9850 Mississippi Street in Merrillville on behalf of developer Crow Holdings. The tenant is not yet being disclosed.
It’s one of the largest industrial leases in Chicagoland in recent years and likely the largest ever signed in Northwest Indiana. While the Region is home to massive steel mills and oil refineries, they were all built by the companies that eventually used them and not a developer who leased them out.
The e-commerce company is expected to make a multimillion-dollar investment in Crow Holdings’ 195-acre Silos at Sanders Farm business park, located between 93rd and 101st avenues on Mississippi Street. The e-commerce company will open a new location on a 79-acre site in the business park, which still has 20 acres of vacant land left for development.
People are also reading…
Adam Haefner, Marty Mikaitis and Zeke Rowan, who are based in Avison Young’s Chicago office, represented Dallas-based Crow Holdings. Ryan O’Leary of Seattle-based KBC Advisors represented the tenant.
“Growth in this submarket continues to attract occupiers of all sizes. This is a significant win for Merrillville and the Northwest Indiana region and we are thrilled to maintain our collaboration with Crow Holdings in addressing the expanding demand for industrial space,” Haefner said.
It’s expected that the tenant will create “numerous well-paying jobs in a secure work environment.”
“Global companies are beginning to recognize the transportation, economic and labor advantages that Northwest Indiana has to offer in the context of national supply chains, not just at a local or regional level,” Mikaitis said.
Crow Holdings developed two buildings in AmeriPlex at the Crossroads and then looked across I-65 for more land to develop.
The developer invested an estimated $70 million to construction the 1-million-square-foot industrial building at 9850 Mississippi St. The business park also is home to a $30 million, 263,500-square-foot building and a $47 million, 455,000-square-foot building.
The business park off Interstate 65 was speculative, meaning no tenants were lined up in advance as the developer gambled on the strength of local market demand. The 1 million-square-foot Building 2 at Silos at Sanders Farms is widely believed to be the largest speculative industrial building ever constructed in Northwest Indiana.
“The demand for rapid delivery of goods to consumers’ doorsteps is steadily increasing, accompanied by rising expectations for speed and reliability,” said Matt Kurucz, Managing Director of Crow Holdings’ Midwest region. “Over the last four years, we have developed over 2 million square feet of Class A space in a market that previously lacked functional buildings to meet the needs of companies seeking efficient service.”
Northwest Indiana has been a major building boom along with Interstate 65 corridor with millions of square feet of industrial space going up in Hobart, Merrillville, Crown Point and Lowell.
“This is one of the largest leases in Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland,” Mikaitis said. “It goes to show the demand for big-box space in this area, along the whole corridor. Companies are looking here globally on a supply chain level for delivery.”
The Region has optimal infrastructure, such as Interstates 65, 80, 90 and 94.
“It has major highways and Class I railroads, not to mention the state of Indiana is pro-business and pro-development,” he said. “There’s a labor pool. There’s a lot of demand for warehouse space.”
The building was competed just four months ago, which is a relatively short amount of time to be sitting on the market.
“We’ve been talking with this user for some time, but it’s not uncommon for a new building to have a year of lag time before it gets leased up,” Mikaitis said.
Only about five other industrial buildings in all of Chicagoland are as large as 9850 Mississippi St. The building is so large the lease signing to a single tenant could attract interest and spur more development.
“It’s going to get the attention of other companies that a very large global e-commerce user is coming,” Mikaitis said. “They’ll get curious about transportation and the whole analysis.”
Avison Young is working to lease out the original 263,500-square-foot building that was the first built at Silos at Sanders Farms. There’s been interest from single users but it also could be subdivided.
Crow Holdings also plans to break ground on the 270,000-square-foot Building 4 by July, which would fully complete the business park.
“We’re open to all opportunities,” he said.
Demand has been strong so far.
“This is definitely the best case scenario and shows why the Region is so special,” he said. “It can serve a third of the population with two-day delivery.”
