Press Releases

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – As a result of a long study of the local market, Moss, Inc. decided to negotiate a short-term lease renewal of its 68,548 square foot warehouse/production and office operations at 1909 South 4250 West, Salt Lake City, UT.  Facilitating the real estate review process on behalf of Moss, Inc. was executed by Taurus Realty Partners and the landlord, Lewco Enterprises, was represented by Innovision Property Group.

Although the California Avenue Industrial submarket around SLC International Airport is saturated by various viable options,  Moss decided to maintain its location at the current facility in order to better position itself for the coming business year, as well as any industry adaptations. 

Moss, Inc. occupies almost 95% of this multi-tenant industrial facility that was built in 1991.  The property features 22-foot ceiling heights, thirteen exterior loading docks, abundant car parking, and approximately 12,000 square feet of finished two-story office/design space.

Due to it’s near proximity to the interstates, along with Salt Lake City International Airport, and heavy infrastructure, the facility will allow a state-of-the-art production facility for the continued development of its tensioned fabric solutions to the exhibit, event and retail Industries for the coming years.

(Secaucus, New Jersey) – Pink, Inc., a provider of tensioned fabric solutions to the exhibit, event and retail interiors industries, was recently acquired by Moss Inc. and is opening a new rental depot warehouse in the Meadowlands submarket of New Jersey.  This facility combines both product lines and regionalizes both event and rental products for Pink and Moss.  This new venture will allow Moss to have a presence in New York City, New York.

The multi-tenant warehouse was built in 2001 and is situated in the heart of the Meadowlands Industrial submarket.  More importantly, the warehouse has ingress to the NJ turnpike and is located strategically near the Lincoln Tunnel for quick access to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  The building consists of a total of 39,000 square feet and features 26’ ceiling heights, exterior loading docks, abundant car parking and mezzanine office space.

This project required a careful market survey and detailed location analysis due to the specific requirement of the type of facility.  “We were able to meet Moss’ expectations while uncovering a hidden opportunity with favorable terms to Moss’ image and footprint,” commented Safir.  “The challenge was to find an optimal location with accessibility to major thoroughfares into New Jersey and New York City.”

The landlord was a private ownership group in New Jersey that was represented by Greg Sholom of Team Resources SBWE.  Pink, Inc. was represented by Marat Safir, President of Taurus Realty Partners, in the lease transaction.

For further information Mr. Safir may be contacted at 224.406.8877.

About Taurus Realty Partners: Taurus Realty Partners is a privately-owned commercial real estate services firm that delivers conflict-free tenant representation services to industrial end-users. Headquartered in Chicago, Taurus Realty Partners’ integrated suite of real estate services includes acquisitions and dispositions, lease negotiation, build-to-suits, strategic advisory services, construction management, and tax and municipal incentives consulting.   With national capabilities, Taurus Realty Partners’ objective, transparent approach aligns real estate with overall business goals to create space solutions that generate competitive advantage for its clients.  For more information, visit www.taurusrealtypartners.com.

(Niles, Illinois) – Taurus Realty Partners represented American Science & Surplus, a seller & retailer of surplus and educational goods, in their extension of their 69,056 square foot corporate headquarters and warehouse facility located at 7410 N. Lehigh Avenue, Niles.

Marat Safir, President, and Eddie Logvinsky, Senior Associate, of Taurus Realty Partners represented American Science & Surplus in on-going negotiations with Richard LeBrun of NAI Hiffman, Senior Portfolio Manager on behalf of Mirvac Industrial Trust, owner of the property.

“American Science & Surplus wanted to verify whether its current facility represented the most optimal situation,” explained Safir. “After evaluating various alternative locations in the competitive nearby submarkets, we determined the existing facility offered the most desirable economics as well as avoiding the relocation of a major distribution facility” according to Logvinsky..”

The multi-tenant warehouse is situated in the North Cook Industrial submarket. The space features 18’ ceiling heights, 4 interior loading docks, 3,500 square feet of finished office space, upgraded T-5 lighting and is fully sprinklered.

BLOOMINGDALE, IL-DataMart Direct has leased 40,000 square feet at 279 Madsen Dr. The company signed a five-year lease for its space in the 138,160-square-foot Building 3 in ProLogis Park Bloomingdale.

DataMart was represented by Marat Safir, president of Taurus Realty Partners, while building owner ProLogis was represented by Cushman & Wakefield in the deal.

“They want to retain most of their employees, and this was close to their previous location,” Safir tells GlobeSt.com. “They wanted to be close to the US Post Office that’s in Carol Stream, which they utilize a lot for their business. The building also had the right ceiling heights, a great amount of loading, and the right amount of office space, and there’s not many places that have the amount of existing office they’re requiring.”
Built in 2001, the building sits on a little more than eight acres, and features 12,000 square feet of office, 30- foot clear ceilings, an ESFR sprinkler system, seven docks, one drive-in door and 180 parking spaces. The property offers proximity to Interstate 355 and the Elgin-O’Hare expressway, as well as high visibility with frontage along Army Trail Road.

This new lease brings 279 Madsen Dr. to 100% leased. Asking lease rates at the building were around $5.75 per square foot, but Safir says ProLogis gave DataMart a more attractive rate because the company was able to use the space as-is and didn’t require much modification. “The building was great space in great condition, and both parties were able to capitalize on that,” Safir says.
ProLogis began developing the business park in 1999, and it now houses four buildings with a total of 510,000 square feet. The park is in the North DuPage submarket, where occupancy rates are around 91%, according to Grubb & Ellis’ mid-year industrial market report. Average asking lease rates in the submarket are near $5.50 per square foot, Grubb’s research shows.

“For this type of product in this square foot range, it’s highly competitive in this submarket,” Safir says. “There’s quite a number of deals in that 30,000 to 50,000 square foot range. It’s probably a more active part of that submarket, so I think both parties were fairly lucky to get this done in an expeditious manner.”

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL-Moss Inc. has signed a 10-year lease for the 105,000-square-foot 2600 Elmhurst Rd. Built in 1995, the property is owned by Mirvac Industrial Trust and located in the O’Hare submarket. Marat Safir, president of Taurus Realty Partners, represented Moss in the deal, while Mirvac was represented by Chris Nelson of Lee & Associates.

“We focused on the O’Hare market because, with a lot of shipments and personnel coming in and out, being located close to the airport was an obvious choice,” Safir tells GlobeSt.com. “We also wanted to find a location close enough to their existing facility so they could retain personnel. This is a good central location.”

Moss’ new lease represents a consolidation of two facilities it previously occupied in Lincolnwood, IL, as well as a relocation of some operations from its headquarters in Belfast, ME. “They make displays for all the big trade shows and a large number of corporate clients,” Safir says. “Chicago is a big city for trade shows, and this is one of the primary facilities for the company where they make and assemble these before they go out to the trade shows and corporate functions.”

The move is also an expansion for the firm, which provides tensioned fabric for trade shows and previously occupied a total of about 40,000 square feet. The Elk Grove Village building offers 11,500 square feet of office, and the remainder of warehouse and light manufacturing space. Mirvac has owned the property for about three years, since it was acquired from CenterPoint Properties for nearly $9 million, sources say.

“The facility itself worked for a lot of reasons – namely that it has a large office component that fits our needs almost perfectly and we didn’t have to change much of the configuration,” Safir says. “The warehouse space had the right ceiling heights – 28-foot clear – and before their ceiling heights were much lower and they were in functionally obsolete space. This building allows their work flow and process to be a lot more efficient and offered more open space to work with and the right amount of loading.”

Safir declined to disclose the asking lease rate on the deal. “The landlord did a good job of marketing the building very aggressively in a market with quite a few options to choose from,” he says. “They did a good job of finding the right tenant to take this space.”

Overall occupancy in the O’Hare submarket is around 88%, according to Transwestern’s mid-year industrial market report. “It has its troubles as every other market is having, but I think being in the middle of Chicago and one of the busiest airports dominated by freight and air cargo industries, O’Hare will survive,” Safir says. “There are definitely higher vacancies than normal, but there’s still a pulse and some activity with a flurry of renewals going on. Hopefully in six to twelve months, we’ll see the air clear in that market.”

WEST CHICAGO, IL-Evolution Sorbent Products has renewed its lease for a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 1270 Nuclear Dr. The meltdown sorbents producer has signed a new seven-year lease for the building, which it has occupied for about five years. ESP was represented in the deal by Marat Safir, president of Northbrook, IL-based Taurus Realty Partners, while building owner Batavia Land Co. was represented in-house.

“They have a lot of infrastructure already in place in this building, and it works for them for a number of reasons,” Safir tells GlobeSt.com. “They can tap into the good labor market that’s out there and the utilize rail, which goes to the building, so that’s a plus. They’ve made a pretty large investment in this building.”

Built in 1972, the building is located in the Fox Valley submarket, where Safir says asking lease rates are around $4 per square foot net. He declined to disclose the lease rate on ESP’s deal, which now extends through 2016.
“They did a look at the market and some of the facilities available were competitive, but at the end of the day, this turned out to be the best option for them,” Safir says. “It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The landlord was aggressive and gave them a good concession package, which made it favorable for them to save long term.”

Overall occupancy in the Fox Valley submarket is around 93%, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q1 industrial market report. “Over the long haul, the submarket has been resilient to the effects of the economy,” Safir says. “It’s not a destination market, but there’s not a lot of interchange and a lot of the companies that are there don’t relocate to another market. Vacancies have risen a bit, like anywhere else, but not as drastically as other submarkets.”

(Crystal Lake, Illinois) – Glashaus, Inc., a privately owned company with offices in Germany as well, is the North American distributor of WECK glass blocks and other glass construction materials. J. Weck GmBH & Co., under the Glashaus local name, recently restructured and signed a renewal for 15,073 square feet of warehouse and office space in Crystal Lake, Illinois at 450 E. Congress Parkway.

The multi-tenant warehouse was built in 1995 and is situated in the heart of the McHenry County Industrial submarket. The building consists of a total of 118,400 square feet and features 24’ ceiling heights, 24 exterior loading docks, 5 drive-in doors and 170 car parking. It also has excellent access to local US Highway 14, IL Routes 176 and 31, as well as low McHenry County taxes.

Marat Safir, President of Taurus Realty Partners, represented Glashaus in the lease transaction. The building ownership consists of a partnership of Cobalt Industrial REIT and USAA Real Estate Company, both based out of Texas. Ownership was represented by Tyler Hardy of CB Richard Ellis.

“Upon review of the market and nearby options, the existing facility presented the most viable alternative. We were able to avoid business disruptions and negotiate competitive economic terms during a challenging time within our client’s industry,” commented Safir.