Marketing Emphasis Shifts to Build-to-Suits on Pad Ready Sites

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (September 22, 2009)—California Cartage Company has completed a 374,460-square-foot industrial lease within Laraway Crossings Business Park in Joliet. Ryan Companies US, Inc. owns Laraway Crossings, one of the largest business parks in the Chicago area.

With this lease, California Cartage, a Long Beach, Calif., transportation and logistics firm, will relocate and significantly expand its local operations at this new location, 251 Laraway Road. The company previously occupied a 213,977-square-foot building in Elwood, 10 minutes away from its new location.
Built in 2004, the building being leased by California Cartage was the first building developed by Ryan within the business park. Arnold Logistics previously occupied the building.
Steve Connolly and Eric Tresslar of NAI Hiffman represented Ryan in the lease transaction. Mike Brown of e-realty represented California Cartage.

With this lease, the two buildings at Laraway Crossings, totaling approximately 849,600 square feet, are 100 percent leased. Within the Interstate 80 corridor market, the vacancy rate for buildings greater than 200,000 square feet is 21 percent. Chicago’s overall industrial vacancy is 11.6 percent.

“Over the last several years, there were a lot of speculative developments running on the same track,” says Gunther Lubben, director of development, Ryan Companies US, Inc. “Then the market collapsed. For the long-haul, we like this submarket. It now needs some time to correct itself.”

Given these market conditions, Ryan’s immediate plans for Laraway Crossings are to market the park’s 180 remaining acres for build-to-suit consideration. All of Laraway Crossings’ sites, ranging from eight to 85 acres, are pad ready

Ryan Companies Adds Tenant at Laraway Crossings
NAI Hiffman is marketing the existing buildings and land parcels in Laraway Crossings on behalf of Ryan.
The building at 251 Laraway Road totals 374,500 square feet of space. Other features of the building include 30-foot clear ceiling height, 40 exterior truck docks and parking for 155 cars and 81 trailers. Power in the building is 2000 Amp and 277/480 volt service. The building features an Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) sprinkler system, has 98,000 square feet of air-conditioned space and offers T5 lighting throughout the entire building.

The California Cartage Company has more than three million square feet of warehouse space strategically located at major port, border and transit areas across the nation. The company operates warehouses for public services as well as privately as an outsourced provider. The company has six southern California locations as well as sites in Chicago, the Port of Savannah, the Port of Oakland, and three locations along the Mexican border.

About Ryan Companies US, Inc.
Ryan Companies US, Inc., a nationally recognized design-builder, developer and real estate manager, has specialized in providing fully integrated solutions for more than 70 years. In 2007, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) named the firm National Developer of the Year. Ryan is also currently ranked 76th in Engineering News-Record’s (ENR’s) list of Top 400 Contractors. In its first 10 years of operation, Ryan’s Midwest Division (based in Chicago) has completed over $1 Billion in projects for customers such as Sears, Deere and Company, Isle of Capri, Target Corporation, Dominick’s and C. H. Robinson.  In addition to its Chicago office, Ryan has offices in Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa, Phoenix and Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines, Iowa.