CHICAGO—A joint venture between Chicago-based Distribution Realty Group and East Brunswick, NJ-based F. Greek Development recently acquired 11.16 acres located at 990 Veterans Parkway in suburban Bolingbrook and have decided to develop a 182,875 square foot class A distribution facility on the site.

Like an increasing number of developers, joint venture officials felt the robust absorption in both the region and the submarket around I-55 justifies launching such a project on a speculative basis.

“I-55 is one of the most dynamic industrial markets in Chicago,” James Love, managing partner of DRG, tells GlobeSt.com. “We have seen over 2.5 million square feet of gross absorption so far this quarter, and the activity level remains high.”

As reported in GlobeSt.com, for example, Molto Properties recently unveiled plans for an 116,000 square-foot speculative industrial property at 1055 Remington Blvd., also in Bolingbrook, and has already gotten a lease signed for half of the space.

In the first quarter developers did not begin any new developments in the I-55 Corridor, but “there are eight (six speculative and two build-to-suit) projects that will add 1.5 million square feet to I-55 Corridor's inventory when completed,” according to a recent Colliers' report. The largest is a 324,100 square-foot speculative warehouse and distribution facility being developed by Duke Realty Corp. at 1341 Enterprise Dr. in Romeoville.

And according to NAI Hiffman, the overall Chicagoland industrial vacancy was 7.8% at the end of the first quarter. Adam Roth of NAI Hiffman represented the joint venture in this transaction and Steve Caton of Caton Commercial Real Estate represented the seller.

“Chicago is one of the country's Tier-1 markets,” says David Greek of F. Greek Development. “With over 1.3 billion square feet of industrial inventory, it is a critical link in the US supply chain. We are excited to be expanding our presence here.”