Industrial acquisition outside Chicago financed for Unilev Capital

CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2021 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged $13.18 million in acquisition financing for Woodridge Commerce Center, a 97-percent-leased, three-building shallow-bay industrial complex totaling 148,012 square feet in the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, Illinois.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, a programmatic joint venture between Unilev Capital and real estate investor Nitin Chexal, the co-founder and CEO of Palladius Capital Management, to place the three-year, floating-rate non-recourse acquisition loan with Wells Fargo Bank.

Woodridge Commerce Center is home to 21 diverse tenants in the engineering, business services, food, healthcare, wholesale trade, manufacturing and logistics industries. Completed in 2006, the buildings feature a total of 21 dock-high doors, 24 grade-level doors, clear heights ranging from 18 to 20 feet and ample parking.

Situated on nearly 12 acres at 10204, 10210 and 10216 Werch Ave., Woodridge Commerce Center is at the heart of the master-planned International Centre Business Park. This superior distribution location facilitates immediate access on to Interstate 55, a major transportation thoroughfare that allows tenants to reach the entire Chicago MSA. The complex is within the I-55 Corridor, which is Chicago’s premier industrial submarket due to its large, modern facilities that are highly sought after by today’s industrial users and access to transportation infrastructure, including BNSF and Union Pacific Intermodal facilities and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The acquisition was led by Unilev’s investment team, Co-Founder and Managing Principal Raymond Levy, Chief Investment Officer Ian Konowitch and Associate Vice President Peter Berges.

“JLL did an outstanding job arranging the financing with a new bank relationship, and Wells Fargo performed without a hitch,” Levy said. “We look forward to growing our industrial presence in the Greater Chicago market as well as nationally and continuing to expand our relationship with JLL and Wells Fargo along the way.”

“As we continue to expand our industrial portfolio, we are excited that our entrance into the Chicagoland market is not only a superior quality asset in a premier location but also that it fits one of our primary-target focuses within industrial, which is multi-tenant, shallow-bay industrial product,” Konowitch added.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team representing the borrower was led by Managing Director Jeff Sause and Senior Director Brian Walsh.

“Unilev has been actively investing in industrial, and I have been impressed with their strategy and ability to drum up interesting opportunities across the country along with their execution through closings,” Sause said. “It is always great working with Unilev, and we are glad our team was able to create a new bank relationship for them on this attractive buy in Chicago. We are looking forward to helping them roll out their industrial strategy nationally.”

“Wells Fargo is pleased to work with Unilev Capital and JLL to provide a smooth execution for the acquisition financing of Woodridge Commerce Center,” added Joel Minugh, Vice President in Wells Fargo’s Real Estate Capital Markets group. “We look forward to growing our relationship with Unilev and JLL, as the industrial sector, among others, continues to see increasing demand.”

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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