Overview
Avison Young’s Industrial Capital Markets Group is pleased to present an exclusive joint venture equity opportunity alongside Becknell Industrial for the ground-up development of a Class A, shallow bay industrial park in the sub-market of Chicago, Hobart, Indiana. The Project comprises four rear-load speculative buildings totaling 356,400 SF on a 26.8-acre site at the I-65/61st Street interchange, 40 miles southeast of downtown Chicago. The NW Indiana shallow bay market is effectively full, with zero newly constructed product accommodating users under 50,000 SF, and demand accelerating. Additional tenant demand will be driven by Amazon Web Services' announced $15B data center campus breaking ground just 0.7 miles east of the site, with roughly 6,000 workers on-site daily over the next 5–7 years, which is already generating immediate contractor and supplier demand that local brokers are already fielding inquiries. Against that backdrop, the Project underwrites to a 7.71% yield on cost; the location, the sponsor, the market fundamentals, and the demand catalyst are rarely found together.
Investment Highlights
- Zero Competition for Sub-50K SF Users — no newly constructed shallow bay product in the size range, and multiple active build-to-suit requirements already circulating the market
- AWS Next Door — $15B data center campus breaking ground 0.7 miles east; 6,000 workers on-site daily for 5–7 years; local brokers already fielding inbound calls from contractors seeking space in this development
- Built-In Diversification — 4 buildings, 12 tenants, $12.50 PSF rents, 84-month leases, 3% annual escalations
- Compelling Returns — 7.71% yield on cost
- Sponsor Conviction — Becknell co-invests up to 10% of JV equity; 35-year track record, 40MM+ SF developed nationally, 2.4MM SF already delivered in NW Indiana
- City Support & Tax Abatement — 10-year real property tax abatement (100% Year 1), utilities in place, strong mayoral backing for the project
