Amcol Enters $34 Million Build-to-Suit for New HQ Near Chicago

Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily - April 7, 2008

Arlington Heights-based Amcol International Corp. is moving its headquarters to a new building in the Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates in a $33.57-million sale/leaseback deal.

Amcol, an industrial clay processor, has been headquartered since 1987 at 1500 W. Shure Drive in Arlington Heights, where it leases about 48,000 square feet, says Gary Castagna, Amcol's chief financial officer.

Adjacent to that building, the firm also leases 18,000 square feet of research and development space at 1350 W. Shure Drive, he says.

Amcol bought the land for its new headquarters, a 72,000-square-foot building at 2370 Forbs Ave. in Hoffman Estates. The company sold the site to Boston-based CRIC Capital LLC, a joint venture between Prudential Real Estate Investors and Corporate Realty Investment Co. The venture is constructing the building. Amcol hopes to move in by Nov.1, Mr. Castagna says.

As part of the deal, which closed March 12, Amcol agreed to lease back the completed two-story building for 20 years. Mr. Castagna says the move allows the company to consolidate its offices and research facility into one building.

"It just seemed like the right setup for us," he says.

CRIC Capital paid about $466 per square foot for Amcol's new building in Prairie Stone, the 780-acre mixed-use development near Interstate 90 and State Route 59 in Hoffman Estates. Marjorie Palace, a managing partner at CRIC Capital, couldn't be reached for comment.

CRIC financed the transaction with a $33.57-million loan from Greenwich Capital Financial Products Inc., a subsidiary of Edinburgh, Scotland-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. Sphere: Related Content