[SINGAPORE] Property developer Mapletree Investments announced on Wednesday (May 14) that it has acquired an 18.11-acre site in Chicago, where it plans to develop a premier logistics facility spanning 276,000 square feet (sq ft).
The company said that the site was strategically situated in an area which offers convenience and access to the Joliet Intermodal Center – North America’s largest and most active inland port, which includes the Union Pacific Joliet Intermodal Terminal and BNSF Joliet Intermodal Terminal.
The acquisition is part of the company’s “long-term strategy to drive growth through targeted development in key US markets”, said Richard Prokup, US chief executive officer, Mapletree Investments.
Mapletree’s Chicago industrial portfolio includes 65 properties with a total area of about 10.3 million sq ft. This new acquisition would improve the company’s growing US development plans.
Separately, it had also received subdivision and site plan approval last month to develop a 149,000-sq-ft facility on an 8.2-acre site – adjacent to its existing warehouse at Munger Road in Chicago. Mapletree expects the development to happen in August and September 2025.
In late 2024, the company acquired a 22.5-acre site in New Jersey. It plans to develop a 250,000-sq-ft logistics facility on the site, which is located near the New Jersey Turnpike, airports and seaports. The facility will serve as a distribution centre and last-mile delivery hub, targeting e-commerce users.
Meanwhile, the company has started construction on a 54,000-sq-ft expansion of a warehouse in Central Florida. Once completed in late 2025, the site will total 204,540 sq ft.
Globally, the property developer owns and manages approximately 251 million sq ft of logistics assets as at end December 2024. The group has been active in the US real estate market since 2014, with a mix of properties including logistics, data centres, offices, student housing and multifamily units.
As at Mar 31, 2024, the US accounted for about 27 per cent of the group’s total assets under management, valued at around US$57.7 billion.
