Siemens, a diagnostic solutions firm, took 320,070 sf out ofBuilding 100. Chip Barnes and Matt Dickerson represented the owner,while Tom Cooler, Ryan Beesley and Paul Novello with CB RichardEllis represented the tenant.

Dickerson tells GlobeSt.com that his firm is trying to lease theremaining 170,000 sf of Building 100, and is looking for tenantsfor a second planned facility. The lease rate for both buildings isaround $3.20 per sf, he says. "The second spec facility, Building200, will be 450,000 sf, similar to the first building with36-foot-clear ceilings and cross docks. Construction should startin March, and it should be done in five months," he says.

He says the local market has been somewhat immune to theeconomic downturn, as Plainfield is in demand for companies seekinga well-positioned distribution center. "On average, we've had about3.5 million sf of positive absorption per year for the pastfive-to-six years. This year will be closer to five million sf,it's going to be a real banner year – but we needed that type ofyear, we had about seven million sf of spec come online in 2007.For a few quarters, we had vacancy near 20%. All of a sudden,everyone out there was yelling, 'Hey, lease our buildings!'"