Challenge: Sunstar conducted a comprehensive corporate facility relocation analysis to move from their locations in Chicago and Elgin. This analysis process included looking at both available vacant greenfield sites and existing vacant buildings in Northwest suburban Chicago and Southeastern Wisconsin. Evaluations included available work force demographics, public transportation, expressway visibility and access, incentives, project schedules, existing work force relocation implications, overall costs, and availability of required public utilities, and fiber optic voice and data communication. Available real estate opportunities required conceptual design development and analysis of zoning, municipal incentives, construction cost variances and magnitudes, operating expenses, timing and schedule evaluations, access, and public utility constraints, which were all incorporated into the final recommendations.
Solution: Peak, along with selected real estate brokerage, design and engineering partners, and Sunstar’s executive team formed an evaluation group designated as the “A-Team”. For over 24 months, the “A-Team” reviewed different locations while gathering critical criteria to evaluate and recommend a relocation solution to the Sunstar Board of Directors. The final choice was an 80 acre site in unincorporated Cook County owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago not formally for sale. Following Sunstar’s approval, Peak was engaged to coordinate all project development and construction details corresponding to the annexation into the Village of Schaumburg, petitioning and approval of real estate municipality incentives and permitting, design coordination and optimization, subcontractor qualification and selection, construction cost control and management, project schedule implementation and progress adjustments, product and system quality control criteria establishment and performance measurement, as well as interface with Sunstar vendors. The project was completed in less than 20 months by implementing phased completion to correspond with distribution, office, and dry and wet manufacturing operations. The original Sunstar project goals and objectives completely changed over the course of programming and conceptual design yet the facility was able to meet critical timing constraints and overall project quality goals.
