Blackstone Group spent much of 2017 acquiring industrial portfolios across the country. Its most recent deal is a $151M purchase of three warehouses in Aurora, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

The three buildings total 1.7M SF, are fully leased to Kraft Heinz and Mondelez Foods, and were acquired last month from a fund managed by JP Morgan Chase. The JP Morgan Chase Fund paid $127M for the properties in 2006. Blackstone's latest deal is on the heels of a blockbuster 22M SF portfolio acquisition in December that included 24 properties totaling 4.1M SF in the Chicago area.

Low vacancy rates and high demand for warehouses from e-commerce retailers and food distributors are driving industrial real estate activity across the Chicago area. Chicago industrial real estate saw an 11.5% internal rate of return last year, well above other asset classes. And investors are seeking portfolio sales. Plymouth Industrial REIT paid $102M for a 15-property portfolio in December from a venture of Brennan Investment Group and Goldman Sachs.