Included in those new deals are four that involved locations of corporate headquarters. Open Text took 38,000 sf, Orren Pickell Designers and Builders claimed 19,900 sf, the Association of Legal Administrators signed a 15,130-sf deal and Sphere Communications took 11,400 sf, reports senior vice president Arvid Povilaitis. Orren Pickell Designers and Builders is relocating from Bannockburn, while Sphere Communications is moving from Lake Bluff, another nearby suburb.

"This is a five-building complex. We traditionally have targeted users in the 30,000-sf range," Povilaitis adds. "But the smaller ones have been a focus for us over the last year."

Managing director of leasing Jim Philbin and leasing representative Katie Comstock were in charge of executing a marketing plan that was aided by the village of Lincolnshire allowing the largest US office REIT permission to put signs on the buildings. The first will identify Open Text as a tenant in the complex, while talks are underway with Orren Pickell Designers and Builders.

"The village of Lincolnshire is a community that does not have a lot of office property, but it has visibility along the Tri-State Tollway," says Povilaitis, noting the REIT and village officials have been in negotiations for more than a year.

The leasing activity was done in the face of 16.7% vacancy in the north suburban submarket, according to US Equities Realty's most recent market report, but it rises to 22.7% when sublease space is added to the equation.

"This is an incredibly competitive environment, particularly for suburban office properties," Philbin says, explaining that more than half the space in the complex at I-94 and Illinois 22 either was available or rolling over this year.

Povlaitis terms the leases "market deals," in the $11 per sf to $12 per sf on a net basis.

"This leasing activity at Tri-State International reflects positive momentum in the Midwest's commercial real estate market," Povilaitis says.