CHICAGO, INDIANAPOLIS—Duke Realty has just begun developing an 80,000-square-foot, four-story medical office building for Centegra Health in the Village of Huntley, about one hour northwest of Chicago, and officials from the Indianapolis-based developer say the project has already attracted a great deal of interest from providers.

“Leasing activity has been very strong; as strong as I have seen in a long time,” Dave Martin, Duke's senior vice president for healthcare, tells GlobeSt.com. The area is one of the fastest growing in Chicago's metro region and one of the reasons for the robust demand is the recognition that “the growth of this submarket has created a pocket of opportunity.”

“In addition, a number of businesses are opening new facilities in Huntley, and access to the area is improving with the new I-90 and Rte. 47 interchange and a planned Amtrak stop,” says Jason Sciarro, president and chief operating officer of Centegra.

The new MOB, which the company expects to complete by February 2017, was 70% pre-leased. Tenants that have already signed leases in the new MOB include Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, which will occupy 30,000 square feet, and Northern Illinois Medical Center, which will occupy 20,000 square feet.

But perhaps the building's biggest selling point is that it will be located on Centegra Health-Huntley's campus on Algonquin Rd. and connected to the new 360,000-square-foot, 128-bed Centegra Hospital-Huntley, set for completion in August 2016. The MOB also will be connected to an existing 56,000-square-foot Ambulatory Care Center on the campus.

The location also makes the project an inviting long-term prospect for Duke. Unlike standalone MOBs or other facilities, healthcare complexes “tend to grow rather than shrink, so there is a great probability that we can keep the building filled,” says Martin.

This MOB fits in with the recent trend to make healthcare cheaper and more efficient. “Many of the activities in the building will have an outpatient focus,” adds Martin. “It's about things that may have been done in a hospital into a lower-cost setting.”

Chicago-based Power Construction is the general contractor for the project; Kahler Slater, which is headquartered in Milwaukee, is the architect; and St. Charles, IL-based O'Donnell Commercial Real Estate is managing leasing for the facility.

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Duke Developing 80K Health MOB for Centegra

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