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player ready...Plans to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing and distribution facility in Franklin Park are underway.
Clarius Partners LLC and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group LLC, two real estate firms based out of Chicago, partnered to purchase the property at 9300 King Ave. in March.
“The building was in pretty bad disarray,” said John P. Schneider, director of community development for the village. The property was previously owned by Brunner & Lay, which specializes in tools made from high quality steel. Brunner moved its manufacturing factor to Arkansas about five years ago, said Schneider. The company’s presence in Illinois is a warehouse in Elmhurst.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency required remediation, or the reversing or stopping environmental damage, due to a leak in the underground tank systems at the property that was reported in 2015, according to a letter from the Illinois EPA.
By May 23, 2016, Brunner was able to meet the Illinois EPA’s “remediation objectives.” Schneider said the village “worked with Brunner and told them the building didn’t work as it is and that someone would need to would tear that building down and redo it.”
Clarius Partners and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group plan to tear down the current 154,800-square-foot building on the property and replace it with a manufacturing and distribution facility by the end of 2017, according to a news release. The two firms have contracted Newmark Grubb Knight Frank as the property’s leasing agent.
“There are limited options available right now for companies seeking new, modern, Class A distribution space of this size in the area,” said NGKF’s Managing Director Thomas Gath. “The new 9300 King facility…will also benefit from its location on the east side of O’Hare, which is a key distribution location for Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.”
The plans for the new building at the 6.2-acre property include a new 99,000-square-foot industrial building with 32-foot clear ceilings, 10 exterior docks, four drive-in doors and a 6b tax credit status, according to information from NGKF. Once completed, the new building is also expected to be LEED certified, feature 2,000-amp electrical service, an ESFR sprinkler system, and “to-suit” office space that’s is divisible to approximately 40,000 square feet.
In Cook County, the 6b designation is designed to encourage industrial investment — specifically, the development of new industrial facilities, the rehabilitation of existing industrial structures and the industrial reutilization of abandoned buildings. Qualifying properties can apply to receive a 12-year reduction in real estate assessments from the standard commercial assessment rate of 25 percent, according to the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development website.
“It’s a difficult building to design because it’s in an industrial area with a residential area behind it,” said Schneider. “The village told them they needed to put their water retention to the back of the building and the loading docks in the front of the building because of this. But these guys are making sure to make the residential and industrial combo of the area work by doing things like putting [in] a pond, some green space and a fence facing the nearby residential area.”
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.