NAPERVILLE, IL-With tenants recently moving into buildings finished this year by Ryan Cos., officials from the local office of the firm said that the Chicago suburbs are likely done seeing new construction for a few years, except for very few build-to-suit projects. Tenants Cisco Systems and Delta Dental are moving into two Chicagoland properties built by Ryan, both which were planned before the major downturn in 2009.

Cisco Systems is moving into about 80,000 square feet in the new 120,000-square-foot Rosemont Corporate Center in Rosemont, IL, where Ryan and the Harp Group own the office. Delta Dental of Illinois contracted Ryan for a build-to-suit at 111 Shuman Blvd. in Naperville, where the insurer will occupy 65,000 square feet of the 85,000-square-foot building. These buildings represent the first new construction in their respective markets in the past two years.

Tim Hennelly from Ryan tells GlobeSt.com that likely the only new development in the struggling Chicago suburban office market will be build-to-suit projects. “There won’t be any more of the Rosemont center buildings, and there won’t be any speculative building in the suburbs for at least five years, I think,” he says. The overall suburban Chicago office vacancy rate rose in the first quarter to 24.8% according to a Grubb & Ellis report, with Class B property vacancy at almost 30%.

The only new development activity has been a boom in medical office projects – but not from the typical customers. Ryan is breaking ground in southern Wisconsin this summer on a few office buildings in the 100,000-square-foot range for local hospitals. “I think that’s where medical office is going, it’s going to be leased entirely by hospital customers. A lot of buildings went up hoping that they could get a doctor group, but these deals are very difficult to put together, and almost impossible to finance. Plus, what I gather from the new health care reform, local doctors are gravitating back toward being with a system, instead of gathering in a group for a new office building,” Hennelly says.