The Opus Group and USAA Real Estate Co. Start Construction on 604,565 SF Speculative Industrial Building

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The Opus Group and USAA Real Estate Company recently held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony and announced the start of construction on a new 604,565-square-foot speculative industrial building in North Aurora, Ill.

Dubbed the I-88 Gateway Logistics Center, the industrial building will be owned by an investment affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company.

“We are excited about the opportunity to commence this new development venture with Opus Development Company, L.L.C. and are confident that, with the design and expandability of this building, we will successfully meet the pent-up demand for larger users who currently have limited options to start up new operations or expand existing ones in the I-88 corridor,” says David Reahl, executive director with USAA Real Estate Company.

Located at 1200 Orchard Gateway Boulevard, the building will have direct access to I-88 and offer a stable labor pool and highly educated workforce from DuPage and Kane counties.

“We are very pleased to get this project started in North Aurora,” says Mike Yungerman, vice president of real estate development at Opus Development Company, L.L.C. “We are beginning to see good market activity and believe that our delivery in June will be well-timed to the expanding market.”

Dale Berman, president of the North Aurora Village Board, also attended the groundbreaking and said that “the North Aurora Village Board is excited to begin this planned growth project.  He added that his organization is welcoming of Opus and USAA Real Estate Company and “look forward to expanded employment and business success” in the area.

The developer of the project is Opus Development Company LLC, Opus Design Build LLC is constructing the building and Opus AE Group LLC is serving as project architect. The building will include a number of features such as 32-foot clear height, 60 docks (expandable), ESFR sprinkler system, T5 lighting and 103 trailer parking spaces (expandable). It will also offer office space to suit future tenant requirements and offers possibilities for future expansion to 1 million square feet. The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2014.