News
Welbic Investments Completes 27-Building Portfolio Refinance, Acquires Two Net-Leased Buildings
Darwin Realty represented buyer in purchase of Pactiv and FedEx facilities
(Elmhurst, Illinois) –Welbic Investments, announced today that the company has refinanced a 1.4 million square foot, 27-building portfolio, including two new buildings the investment company recently purchased. The portfolio includes both industrial and office properties with more than 100 tenants located throughout the Chicagoland area and Southeastern Wisconsin.
Welbic Investments is a private investor made up of members of the Cibula and Lewandowski families. The group has been in business for more almost 40 years and was able to refinance the portfolio for $49 million with participation from Wells Fargo and First Merit Banks. Darwin Realty’s Director of Asset Management Erin Cibula and Vice President Matt Lewandowski led the refinancing for the company.
In addition to the 25 buildings already in the portfolio, Welbic recently acquired two new buildings. The first is a 115,000 square foot industrial building on 14 acres of land located at 8100 S. 77th Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois. Pactiv, a food service and food-packaging vendor, currently occupies the building and negotiated a new 10-year lease with Welbic. The new lease includes $3 million in tenant improvements from Welbic, allowing for upgrades to the building such as new ESFR sprinkler systems, T-5 lighting with sensors, general interior upgrades to the warehouse and office, paving and construction of a connecting link between the building and a neighboring building to the north which houses Pactiv’s manufacturing facility. Financing of $5.15 million for the acquisition and construction was provided by The Private Bank. The Village of Bridgeview was instrumental in providing a 6B tax incentive to encourage Pactiv’s expansion in Bridgeview.
George Cibula, Chairman/CEO of Darwin Realty represented Welbic in the
purchase and in the lease to Pactiv. David Tropp and George Maragos of CBRE worked on behalf of the tenant and Sean Hufford, Vice President of Asset Management worked in-house to represent the seller, Spirit Realty Capital. Peak Construction, National Association of Industrial and Office Park’s (NAIOP) 2013 Contractor of the Year, provided an accelerated building program that gave Pactiv occupancy of the new space within 120 days of closing. Larry Marchel, Director of Construction at Darwin Realty coordinated a fast track permit process between the Village of Bridgeview, Pactiv, Peak Construction and ownership.
“This shows that transactions do not need to be bogged down in bureaucracy,” said George Cibula. “The wonderful cooperation of the Village of Bridgeview, Pactiv, the contractor, the seller and the lender was a refreshing change.”
Welbic’s second purchase is the FedEx Freight Terminal at 3883 Butterfield Road in Aurora. This 63,740 square foot property sits on 14.5 acres and is made up of: a 55,120 square foot main building with office and cross dock area; a 6,550 square foot repair/wash building; and a 1,600 square foot fueling facility for the FedEx fleet. Built in 2003 as a build-to-suit for FedEx, this is one of only 17 terminals for the company in Illinois. The property benefits from, close proximity to I-88 and Route 59, 104 dock doors, parking for 91 cars and 269 trailer spots. Darwin Realty’s George Cibula and Matt Lewandowski, along with Marcus and Millichap’s Howard Wiese worked on behalf of Welbic, which paid $15.95 million for the building. Marcus and Millichap’s Nick Manganais represented the seller, a private investment group, in the transaction.