investigation
The developer has not found any major tenants to start the construction of six floors planned in the wood warehouse of the former Ciral family.
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A historic lumber backyard on Chicago’s Goose Island is up for grabs, calling into question a massive timber construction task that has been in the works for years.
The 2. 1-acre assets at 1017 West Division Street, once home to the Ciral family’s Big Bay Lumber business, are for sale, CoStar reported. Tom Svoboda and Phillip Golding of CBRE are marketing the assets, the sale value has not been disclosed.
The Ciral family has collaborated with Hines, a Houston-based developer, for the past seven years to convert the site into a six-story solid-wood office building.
The assignment was to be part of Hines’ T3 series, a variety of sustainable buildings built with wood, with traffic-friendly designs and technology. Similar T3 buildings have already been built in Minneapolis, Toronto, Denver, and Austin.
However, Hines has struggled to find an anchor tenant for the Goose Island project, a challenge compounded by the economy, emerging structural prices and the pandemic’s lasting effects on space demand.
“Together with the landowner, we continue to compare all opportunities and pursue the expansion of T3 Goose Island,” said Brian Atkinson, managing director of Hines in Chicago.
Ciral’s decision to list the former lumberyard comes at a time of significant renovation for Goose Island, which is undergoing a dramatic transformation from a commercial community to a mixed-use one.
Major will reshape the district.
The Onni Group aims to attract the population with a mixed-use complex comprising 2,650 residential units. Bally’s can provide entertainment with a casino complex on the 30-acre former Freedom Center printing press of the Chicago Tribune.
Earlier this year, candy giant Mars, owner of Wrigley Gum, created jobs by opening a 42,000-square-foot, 42,000-square-foot progression center on Goose Island.