A Chicago-based firm best known for its two decades of office redevelopment and management is expanding its scope in the logistics sector.
Glenstar Logistics, the industrial arm of Glenstar, brought on Tim Thompson as principal of development and acquisitions as it looks to accelerate its growth. Thompson joined the firm following more than 25 years at HSA Commercial Real Estate, where he oversaw the development of more than 10M SF of new industrial builds in the Chicago area and the Southeast.
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Since its launch in 2022, Glenstar Logistics has developed and leased more than 2M SF and currently controls approximately 400 acres throughout the Southeast.
Glenstar Managing Principal Brian Netzky said its goal is to develop 6M SF over the next four years.
Its first industrial project was an 800K SF speculative build in Fort Myers, Florida, which it completed in 2023 and ultimately sold to a real estate investment firm.
“Glenstar Logistics as a startup business, as part of Glenstar, is at a huge advantage compared to a startup industrial developer,” Netzky said. “We’ve been the beneficiary of the Glenstar relationships and organization to be able to take on projects of this scope from the onset.”
Its office counterpart has been busy, too, scooping up a 967K SF West Loop tower earlier this year, and has worked on other deals like 200 S. Wacker Drive and an office complex near the airport.
A lot of the crossover between the two business lines is on the capital side, where the company’s longstanding debt and equity relationships provide Glenstar Logistics with established avenues of capital, Netzky said. The logistics arm has brought in asset managers with office experience and construction people with backgrounds at top industrial developers.
Glenstar Logistics controls four pieces of land in the Southeast, with size capabilities ranging from 250K SF to 1.6M SF.
It was able to avoid competition on a lot of the land deals because many of them were off-market transactions, Thompson said.
Thompson said he made the move to Glenstar because he was looking for a new challenge and wanted to take the skill set he developed at HSA to a different opportunity.
He and Netzky have a long history — Netzky was originally trained by Thompson when he was a college intern nearly 40 years ago. They will be leaning on that shared brokerage background as they build out a portfolio, he said.
“We've been on that tenant side representing the tenants,” Thompson said. “We have a different instinct when it comes to what the tenants might be looking for.”
Netzky said the company identifies sites for development selectively: It looks at places with robust population growth, great highway access, access to labor and strategic assessments of supply and demand. Ultimately, the company believes that if it builds flexible sites, they will attract users, he said.
“No one can be 100% certain on predicting supply and demand two years down the road. It's an art, not a science,” Netzky said. “If we build the best buildings at the best site plans, the tenants will want our buildings.”
Thompson said Glenstar is pursuing half a dozen sites in key submarkets. The company is evaluating demand in those individual submarkets, whether it be for smaller bay projects or large distribution buildings.
“Development’s always been a challenge,” Thompson said. “You work through it.”
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