Did you know that concrete consists of five (5) components? These include cementitious material, large aggregate, small aggregate, water, and admixtures.

At ATMI Precast, we use multiple different cements, aggregates, and admixtures to produce concrete that benefits the safety, quality, and cost of our product that is outlined below.

Cementitious Materials:

• Type IL Cement
  • Blended cement that contains 5% – 15% limestone
  • Reduces the carbon footprint
  • More cost effective
• Type III Cement
  • Ground finer than Type I
  • Achieves high early concrete strength
• Slag
  • Improves workability
  • Easier to finish
  • Higher long-term compressive strength
• White Cement
  • Used for architectural finishes

Aggregates:

• 3/4″ Limestone
  • Typical large aggregate
• 3/8″ Limestone
  • Large aggregate used for architectural mixes
  • Used to increase flowability with a self-consolidating concrete
• Mason Sand
  • Small aggregate
  • Finer ground sand used for architectural mixes
• Torpedo Sand
  • Small aggregate
  • Typical sand used for both structural and architectural mixes
• Screenings Sand
  • Small aggregate
  • Crushed limestone used for architectural mixes

Admixtures:

• Superplasticizer or High Range Water Reducer
  • Simulates water in the mix to reduce the amount of water needed
  • Less water = higher concrete strength
• Viscosity Modifier
  • Prevents the mix from segregating
  • Suspends the aggregate in the concrete matrix
• Entrained Air
  • Adds micro air pockets to the mix to combat the freeze thaw in the Midwest region
• Retarder
  • Slows down the initial set of the concrete to allow for longer workability

In September 2022, the Chicago Chapter of The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) hosted its fall Speaker Series. The discussion focused on the state of capital markets in commercial real estate. Key takeaways include:

• Interest rates have taken a toll on underwriting in all asset classes.
• Multiple banking relationships have never been more important, as many non-traditional lending sources have evaporated and the CMBS market is frozen.
• Most active buyers today are all-cash or low levered.
• The large transaction market is non-existent.
• Re-trading deals has been common this year, typically 10-30%.
• Auction sites are seeing some success with the rapid speed of execution.

Cap rates in the single tenant net lease sector increased slightly for all three (3) sectors in the third quarter of 2022. For the first time the past two (2) years, cap rates increased for two (2) straight consecutive quarters. Single tenant cap rates increased to 5.86% for retail, 6.80% for office and 6.61% for industrial in the third quarter of 2022. As the Federal Reserve continues to increase rates in an attempt to curb inflation, debt costs have increasingly put upward pressure on cap rates for buyers of net lease properties.

As economic pressure mounts, formerly opportunistic sellers removed properties from the market that were attempting to take advantage of the historically low cap rate environment. In the third quarter of 2022, the supply of net lease properties decreased by more than twelve percent (12%) when compared to the prior quarter. Furthermore, buyers and sellers have yet to agree on pricing levels given the current environment and a period of price discovery continues.

The rising rate and inflationary environment impacted acquisition criteria for net lease buyers. Investors demand properties with rent growth or the ability to increase rents in the near term are in the greatest demand. Investors expected cap rates to widen for non-core net lease deals with short term leases, lesser tenants or secondary markets. This has yet to occur on a wider scale, causing a wait and see approach for many investors.

The capital markets will continue to impact the overall net lease market. Investors will be carefully monitoring the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, and its impact on their borrowing costs.

ATMI Precast would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our customer, Mortenson Construction, for our participation in the Facebook Data Center in DeKalb, Illinois. Mortenson Construction has been a solid construction partner throughout the project. This project began with our Sales/Estimating department in 2020 and ultimately a project award for Buildings 1 and 2. Subsequently, we were awarded Buildings 3, 5 and 6 in 2022.

Our ultimate project included manufacturing and erecting thermally broken architectural precast panels that were non load-bearing clad to a steel frame. This panel ultimately performs as the exterior wall panel barrier for the Data Centers and Link Buildings. These panels include an architectural concrete mix with a light abrasive blast, nonconductive glass fiber wythe connectors, fully insulated, multiple electrical embeds, and numerous openings for mechanicals.

ATMI Precast is proud of our Engineering, Project Management, Erection, and Production personnel for their commitment to quality throughout this three (3) year period.

In order to provide prospective of this project, here are some specific details:

• 423,000 SF of insulated precast wall panels
• 1,617 precast panels
• 2,133 electrical embeds
• 1,508 truck loads
• 120 days of erection
• 16 separate mobilizations
• 187,042 LF of caulk
• 67,208 wythe connectors

Mortenson Construction is the General Contractor, Sheehan Nagle Hartray are the Architects, and this project was erected by our sole erector, Waubonsee Development. Full completion of this project is expected by late 2023.