MCCOOK, IL-Freeman Audio Visual Solutions is the first to sign in a new 201,311-square-foot speculative building on 20 acres here in Clarius Park McCook. The property is one of only a handful of industrial sites built in 2009 that did not already have a full tenant signed on.

Chicago-based Clarius Partners is the developer of the $28 million new park, which is to include almost 370,000 square feet in two facilities. However, though this first building is complete, the second building is still in the planning stage. Kevin Matzke, managing principal at Clarius, says there’s been a number of different prospects that could fill both buildings. “I’d like to think that we’ll be all leased up by the middle of next year,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “This project is sort of a bell-whether for the region, the rest of the market is watching to see if this is going to be a successful project.”

There’s not a lot of new space possible so near Chicago, Matzke says, and there’s been a lot of deals signed during the past 18 months around McCook. Freeman’s lease is worth about $3.5 million, he says. "The average lease around here is about $6 per square foot, and this deal exceeded that," Matzke says. Larry Much, Steve Connolly and Kelly Disser with NAI Hiffman represented the tenant in the lease.