Haribo of America is increasing its footprint in Kenosha County with the lease of a 447,000-square-foot building in Bristol, located in the Bristol Highlands East Commerce Center, a three-building, 68-acre industrial park at Wilmot Road and 136th Avenue, according to a press release from Chicago-based
HSA Commercial Real Estate, which developed the property.
The building is located about 2 miles from Haribo's production plant in Pleasant Prairie.
Haribo began producing its well-known Goldbears gummi candy treats at its new, 500,000-square-foot factory in July.
“As we’ve ramped up U.S. production and more consumers get to know and love Haribo gummies, we need larger warehouse space to house our products,” said Lauren Triffler, director of corporate communications for Haribo of America, in the release. “This larger footprint will help support our growth and continue to serve our customers quickly and efficiently. We’re thrilled to stay in Bristol near our factory and support our local communities, adding more career opportunities as we bring the world’s No. 1 gummi brand to fans around the U.S.”
Haribo currently leases an approximately 158,000-square-foot building from HSA in the same industrial park. That building will become available for lease after the company moves to the larger space, which is expected to happen during the second quarter this year.
“Haribo has been a valued tenant at Bristol Highlands for over two years, and we are pleased to have a building within the same park that is ready to accommodate their rapid growth,” said
Robert Smietana, chief executive officer of HSA. “This expansion is also a testament to the desirability of the I-94 corridor, which has attracted many new speculative industrial developments. Even though vacancy has increased, construction activity has moderated, which bodes well for the region in 2024 as larger deals like our lease with Haribo inject confidence into the market.”
Industrial space vacancy in Kenosha County
rose to 14.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a report from the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin, up from 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022. But Kenosha County absorbed 766,535 square feet of industrial space in 2023, the report shows.
Haribo's new building, located at 9403 136th Ave., was completed in 2022 and includes 73 truck docks.
Whit Heitman and Sam Badger of CBRE represented Haribo in the transaction. HSA Commercial was represented by
Jeff Hoffman of
Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke, Eric Fischer of
Cushman & Wakefield and Tim Thompson of HSA Commercial Real Estate.
HSA Commercial has already built three industrial facilities with almost 1.1 million square feet of combined space in the eastern first phase of its Bristol Highlands Commerce Center. HSA Commercial also owns land to the west, where it is marketing a newly completed 550,000-square-foot spec building. There is room on that site for two more buildings to be constructed over time. At full completion, HSA Commercial would have about 2.5 million square feet of industrial space in Bristol.
