After a fast public hearing process and City Council approval, the first beneficiaries of the North Branch Industrial Corridor land rush are the City of Chicago and Sterling Bay. The Emanuel administration is selling an 18-acre fleet management facility at 1685 North Throop to the near-omnipresent developer for $104.7M.

Sterling Bay now owns nearly 60 acres along the North Branch Industrial Corridor. The firm paid $11.5M in March for a two-acre site just south of the fleet management facility, completed a $100M deal for the A. Finkl & Sons site last December and bought the Guttman Leather and Lakin General Tire sites in 2015. Sterling Bay is poised to develop upward with the relaxed zoning changes in the North Branch Industrial Framework now law.

The mayor's office billed the sale as a win-win for the city. The fleet management facility will move to 69th Street and Wentworth Avenue in Englewood once the sale is completed. The city also signed a letter of intent to purchase 30 acres at 4301 West Chicago Ave. in West Garfield Park, which will be home to a new training academy for police and firefighters. Both projects will be partially funded with proceeds from the Sterling Bay deal.

Cushman & Wakefield's Larry Goldwasser, Michelle McGuire and Dirk Riekse marketed the fleet management facility on behalf of the city.