Vernon Hills, Illinois-based Rust-Oleum is expanding its presence in Kenosha County with the lease of 102,000 square feet of industrial space in Pleasant Prairie.
The coating manufacturing company is leasing space from Jelly Belly Candy Co. in its building at 10100 Jelly Belly Lane. The Fairfield, California-based candy manufacturer will continue occupying the remaining 132,000 square feet in that building, according to a news release.
Rust-Oleum will use the space for warehouse and distribution purposes. The Jelly Belly space is also used for distribution, and also includes a visitors center.
Kevin Barry and David Buckley of The Barry Co. brokered the transaction.
The roughly 234,000-square-foot building was constructed in 2000 for Jelly Belly. The company in 2015 said it planned to sell the building and move distribution operations to Tennessee, though it ultimately kept a presence there.
Jelly Belly previously considered using the space for manufacturing operations before deciding to lease it out.
Rust-Oleum also has operations elsewhere in Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha. It was named Kenosha County Business of the Year in 2013 by the Kenosha County Business Alliance.
James Barry, president of The Barry Co., said the deal shows the strength of the market in Kenosha County.
“It does indicate just how strong the leasing market is down there,” Barry said. He added that existing industrial buildings often present a better deal in terms of leasing than newly built facilities.
