Jack Shaffer, Chairman and Founder of HSA Commercial, Inc., announced today that the firm has partnered with Boston-based Great Point Investors to develop a 218,500-square-foot speculative warehouse facility at Delany Road and Blanchard Road in north suburban Waukegan, Ill. The partnership broke ground this month on the new industrial building which will be divisible to 25,000-square-foot suites and will offer 30’ clear heights, 28 truck docks, 4 drive-in doors, 300 parking spaces and convenient access to both Highway 41 and Interstate 94.

“We have targeted this property for development for a number of years, and we have watched patiently as the vacancy rates for industrial space have dropped year after year without any new facilities being added to the market,” said Bob Smietana, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HSA Commercial. “With the economy continuing to rebound and with the right partner in Great Point, we knew that there was no better time than now for this project.”

“When this opportunity was brought to our attention, we were immediately intrigued by the lack of available industrial product near this strategically valuable Lake County location,” said Joseph Versaggi, Principal of Great Point Investors. “We were even more compelled by the ability to partner with HSA Commercial Real Estate, one of the most accomplished industrial development firms in the Midwest.”

“There’s a great base of firms in the pharmaceutical, fulfillment, packaging, manufacturing, and technology industries in Lake County that don’t currently have the option of locating in the type of premier industrial real estate product that this project will offer,” said Tim Thompson, SIOR, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Industrial Services Division at HSA Commercial. “Through our leasing efforts, we hope to provide prospective tenants with a level of quality and flexibility that hasn’t been available in recent years because of the lack of new development.”

Michael Caprile, Vice Chairman, and Steve Roth, Executive Vice President, of CBRE secured Great Point Investors for the joint venture with HSA. Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Bank is providing construction financing for the project, and Premier Design + Build will serve as the general contractor.

About Great Point Investors
Boston-based Great Point invests in industrial, office, senior housing, and multifamily real estate throughout the United States on behalf of the firm’s institutional clients by employing all-equity, leveraged-equity, joint-venture, and participating-debt structures while pursuing both core and value-added opportunities. With fully discretionary capital, Great Point is able to quickly source and close transactions.