Bridge Signs Two New Leases at ’Bridge Point Melrose Park’ in Melrose Park, Ill. 

Three-building, 1.6M-SF Class A industrial development is now 86 percent pre-leased after mid-construction pivot to suit new occupiers

Melrose Park, Ill. (May 5, 2022) – Bridge Industrial (“Bridge”), a privately-owned, vertically integrated real estate operating company and investment manager, announced today the signing of two new leases at ‘Bridge Point Melrose Park’ — a state-of-the-art, industrial development situated on 87 acres in Melrose Park, Ill. — to supply chain management firm CEVA Logistics, and Expeditors International, a logistics and freight forwarding firm. After finalizing the agreements, Bridge Point Melrose Park is now 86 percent pre-leased.

CEVA has signed a long-term lease agreement for the planned 707,953-square-foot cross-dock warehouse and Expeditors will occupy a new 669,914-square-foot facility at the development. In order to accommodate both tenants’ desired warehouse requirements, Bridge worked with its entire design and construction team to adjust the plans for the 1.6 million-square-foot-project. The design team consists of leading architecture firm Cornerstone; general contractor ARCO Murray; and SPACECO, Inc., the project’s civil engineer. Bridge secured a loan on the project from CIBC in 2021.

With the completion of the two modern cross-dock facilities, Bridge will construct one final building on the south end of the site with frontage along North Avenue. This building will be a 225,009 SF rear-load facility with state-of-the-art specifications such as 36’ clear ceiling heights and ample truck and car parking spaces. This building will be available for lease in late 2023.

“The ability to work with both the Village of Melrose Park and our entire design team to pivot and implement significant changes while construction is already underway is something we’re immensely proud of at Bridge, as it allows us to satisfy our customers’ needs and ensure long-term occupancy in today’s competitive industrial landscape,” said Jon Pozerycki, Partner, Chicago Region at Bridge, “With the help of our valued partners, we were able to deliver a custom-designed development that is significantly pre-leased ahead of its completion.”

Bridge originally acquired the site, located at 10400 West North Avenue, in June of 2021 from Navistar and began demolition in early 2022. Initial site plans included three Class A buildings — one 707,953-square-foot cross-dock facility, and two 415,918-square-foot rear-load facilities — making it the only site in the O’Hare submarket able to accommodate a user over 500,000 square feet.

“O’Hare is a priority submarket for Bridge in Chicagoland, and we’re excited to continue to meet our tenants’ growing needs by delivering state-of-the-art industrial product within this in-fill, land constrained submarket,” said Andrew Hurwitz, Market Officer for the New York Region, previously Vice President for the Chicago Region, at Bridge. “Our pre-leasing success at Bridge Point Melrose Park is a testament to the entire project team’s creative flexibility adjusting our plans to best meet our customers’ needs.”

Charlie Kenning and Brian Carroll of JLL represented Bridge in both transactions. Jason Lev and Jimmy Kowalczyk of CBRE and Jeffrey Kernochan and Andrew Mager of Fischer represented CEVA and Expeditors, respectively.

Bridge Point Melrose Park offers a best-in-class combination of size, location, and functionality. The project boasts a prime location with direct access to O’Hare International Airport, area expressways, and the broader Chicagoland population base. It is situated just two and a half miles from both Interstate 290 and Interstate 294, and less than ten miles from Interstate 88, Interstate 90, and Interstate 355.

Bridge has a long history of development within the O’Hare submarket, having completed over 3 million square feet in the area — just over 35 percent of all new developments — since 2013, and over 1 million square feet, constituting 43 percent of all developments, since 2020. Bridge has an additional 1.9 million square feet of projects currently under or planned for future construction in O’Hare, including Bridge Point Schiller Park III and IV, and Bridge’s latest acquisition, Bridge Point Elk Grove I and II. Bridge continues to seek opportunities to develop modern industrial facilities in the most supply-constrained core infill industrial markets that can meet the steady demand for last-mile and next-day delivery.