The COVID-19 pandemic greatly increased the need to store and ship medical and testing equipment, which was one of the big drivers of Chicago-based Berlin Packaging's expansion at the Clinton Commerce Park.
Berlin first moved into the location in the western Pittsburgh suburb Clinton, Pennsylvania, with a nearly 300,000-square-foot warehouse space, but demand for the company's two fastest-growing divisions — Qorpack, which serves laboratory, research and testing professionals, and Dangerous Goods, which ships hazardous and temperature-sensitive materials — pushed the company to add 157,000 square feet and 125 new employees in 2022.
About the project: Under the terms of a new lease signed in November, Berlin now fully occupies Clinton Commerce Park's Building I and has leased more than half of the 266,000-square-foot Building II. The company now occupies nearly half a million square feet in the park.
The Clinton Commerce Park is owned by STAG Industrial.
What the judges said: Rick Belloli, principal at Q Development, praised the expansion as important for the larger Pittsburgh region.
"The immediacy of response during the COVID-19 emergency with packaging and labor challenges are achievements of note," he said.
Patrick Sentner, executive vice president at CBRE's Pittsburgh office, sees the expansion as a sign of industry revitalization in the region.
"The property at 2400 Sweeney Drive will help drive a continuation of the growth of Pittsburgh new industrial construction," he said. "New product has been needed for years!"
They made it happen: The lease was pulled together by brokers from several different firms. The list includes John S. Jackson of CBRE; Rick O'Brien and Greg Hopkins of JLL; and a team from Cushman & Wakefield that included Jack O'Donoghue, Tim Cahill, Andy Heymann and Alex Brody.