Molex leaving but new development ready to build
As published in the Naperville Sun - February 1, 2006
By LARRY AVILA lavila@scn1.com Normally when a business announces it's leaving town, it isn't good news. But sometimes there's an exception. Molex, a maker of electronic components, will vacate its building at 1150 Diehl Road by late spring or early summer and relocate to a newly built facility at its corporate campus in Lisle at 2222 Wellington Court. Sam Cremin, spokesman for Molex, would only confirm the move Tuesday but offered no other details. An adjoining 17-acre parcel and the 1150 Diehl Road site has been acquired by CD Real Estate Development LLC of Naperville, whose principals include Denice Gierach , a Naperville attorney, and Chuck Podczerwinski, who owns and operates an insurance underwriting firm in Naperville. The property will be home to Regency Office Park, a new 14building office condominium development. An anchoring feature of the development is the existing 1150 Diehl Road building, which is estimated at 26,000 square feet. CD Real Estate Development LLC has contracted with Rosemont-based commercial real estate firm Grubb and Ellis to market the office condo project. Michael Fortuna, one of the marketing agents for the project, said the Molex building, which was built in the 1980s, will be rehabilitated.
Highlights
• • • • • • • • • Suites from 1,200 - 40,000 sq. ft. Approved for medical and professional use Quality masonry and steel construction Custom floor plans and build-out Located near 4-way interchange with I-88 Walking distance to hotels, restaurants and retail Campus setting with park-like landscaping Plentiful parking Financing available
New windows, exterior masonry work will be coupled with extensive interior renovations, Fortuna said. "We're anticipating Molex leaving in the next two months," he said. The heart of the project will be the new stand-alone office buildings that will range between 5,000 and 12,600 square feet. The larger Molex building will be available to subdivide. "If someone wanted to own between 1,200 and 2,000 feet, the larger site could accommodate that," Fortuna said. "Our plan is to make the existing building a first-class site as much as the new buildings will be." Building Specs
• • • 17-acre parcel of land on Diehl Road, Naperville. The shared parking ratio will be 4.8 per 1,000 square-feet and can accommodate medical use. When complete, the Regency Office Park will encompass 145,000 square-feet of office space west of Naperville Road and near the four-way interchange of the I-88 Tollway and Diehl Road. For more information visit:
Fortuna expects construction on the new office condos to begin in March. Initially, three buildings will be built facing Diehl Road, he said. Those buildings should be finished by early fall. When fully built out the office park will feature about 145,000 square feet of office space.
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regencyofficepark.stratumsites.com
Podczerwinski is optimistic the development will lure tenants. Podczerwinski said he and Gierach had looked into buying the office building where their respective businesses were located but couldn't complete a deal, so they decided to start their own development. He and Gierach will occupy some space in the office park.
"We were tired of paying rent and decided to build our own office complex," Podczerwinski said. With several major corporations including DeVry, ConAgra and OfficeMax setting up shop in Naperville, a steady stream of inquiries about available office space has been flowing into the Naperville Development Partnership. NDP President Christine Jeffries said a majority of the estimated 4,000 businesses in Naperville are small- to midsized companies including some that occupy between 5,000 and 12,000 square feet of office space. "Naperville tends to grow businesses, who eventually need to move into bigger space," Jeffries said. She doesn't believe there is an oversaturation of office space though regional vacancy rates are now averaging 20 percent. "There has been good market absorption of existing and new space coming on line," Jeffries said. "The fact that new space is coming on line is good for the local economy because it brings in additional tax dollars, not to mention that it brings more property agents to Naperville, so this is all very good news." Jeffries believes Naperville has many strong selling points. "From the standpoint of business attraction, Naperville has a reputation for outstanding quality of life," she said. "Companies are finding that is an important quality and that's where businesses need to locate to attract the best and brightest employees."