In one sign of how much land values have fallen since the crash, Bridge Development Partners LLC has acquired a 50-acre industrial development site in the far southwest suburbs for a quarter of the price it agreed to pay for the property in 2008.
The Chicago-based industrial developer closed in April on the property near 159th Street and Interstate 355 in Lockport for nearly $2 million, about four years after signing a contract to buy the parcel for about $8 million, says Bridge Principal Steven Poulos. That deal was called off when the “world ended” that year, he says.
Now, Bridge plans develop the property into a business park with as much as 1 million square feet of space. The park will include at least one 200,000-square-foot speculative, or “spec,” building, with no tenant lined up in advance, Mr. Poulos says.