CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[Randomguy34]

Humboldt Park project lands big chemistry design company deal

A Northwestern University spinout developing new ways to store and sort chemicals is expanding and moving its operations to Humboldt Park, a major growth story for the local landscape of science-focused companies and a landmark deal for the Joe Mansueto-backed real estate firm building out modern workspace in the West Side neighborhood.

NuMat Technologies has signed a lease for around 62,000 square feet at the Terminal at 1334 N. Kostner Ave., where it will relocate later this year from its longtime home at the Illinois Science & Technology Park in Skokie, sources familiar with the deal said. The new space will be close to three times larger than its current one and makes the 10-year-old company the largest tenant to date to plant its flag at the Terminal, a $50 million redevelopment of a cluster of old Humboldt Park warehouses led by Chicago developer IBT Group and Mansueto, the billionaire founder of Morningstar.

NuMat's lease provides a big validation point for that project as IBT tries to draw tenants to a location that is wholly unproven as a destination for companies and lacks public transportation access. While developers of new lab buildings in the trendy Fulton Market District or at Lincoln Yards are on the hunt for tenants that want research space with the amenities of modern office buildings, NuMat is moving to a neighborhood that rarely draws companies like it and a building considered an underdog in the pursuit of such science-focused tenants. The company's move could help draw other similar tenants to the Terminal and provides an impactful boost for Mayor Lori Lightfoot's effort to promote economic development and jobs in blighted neighborhoods on the city's South and West sides.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...t-park-project