"We were triggered to do a number of improvements, and now Ithink we're more prepared than ever for when the market turnsaround, in having build-to-suit pads ready," Gunther Lubben,director of development with Ryan, tells GlobeSt.com. "We shaved alot of time off putting power and gas in the park in the future,and we're ready to go now."

Work on the development, at Route 53 and Laraway Road, began in2000. When completed, the park could offer as much as six millionsf, to become one of the largest industrial parks in the Chicagometropolitan area, the company said. The park currently houses twobuildings representing a combined 850,000 sf: 401 E. Laraway Road,a 475,104-sf building fully leased by confectionery and beveragescompany Cadbury plc, and a now-vacant, 374,400-sf facility onceleased by third-party logistics firm Arnold Logistics. The vacantbuilding, which was built on spec five years ago, is expandable to750,000 sf. "Vacancies in the Interstate 80-Joliet corridor aregetting up there," Lubben says. "The submarket has 12 million sf ofinventory."

In August, after nearly a year-and-a-half of work, RyanCompanies closed on a deal with Ikea to purchase 72 acres in thebusiness park. The Swedish retailer will build a 1.3-million-sfMidwest distribution center on the site. The sales price was notdisclosed.Lubben says Ryan's focus at Laraway is on buildingfacilities for one to three tenants, ranging in size from 300,000to 750,000 sf. "There will be projects with million sf specs, but Ithink Laraway is better positioned to do the smallerbuild-to-suits," Lubben says.