CHICAGO—DFS, Inc., recently signed a 62,598-square-foot lease at 355 Corporate Center building #2 in southwest suburban Lockport, bringing the 228,690 square foot spec building to 100% occupancy just a few months after its completion by Panattoni Development.

Mark Barbato and Adam Stokes of Nicolson, Porter & List represented Panattoni in the transaction.

This was the last remaining space within Phase I of the development. Panattoni recently started on Phase II of the project, breaking ground on a 300,158-square-foot building that it plans to complete by spring 2017. And with so many users still out there looking for space, company officials have a great deal of confidence in the future.

“Leasing is significantly better now than it was from 2003 to 2007,” Jason Rosenberg, partner at Panattoni, tells GlobeSt.com. “We usually budget 12 to 18 months for lease-up.” The company has built six million square feet of space in the I-55 submarket since 2001, but tight conditions along that expressway, typically among the most desirable places for industrial users, makes this new project, which lies along I-355, especially attractive. “I-55 is now an infill market; it's close to 100% built out, which is amazing.”

The importance of I-355 to distributors was shown earlier this year when United Parcel Service leased the first building at the 50-acre I-355 Corporate Center, a 273,640-square-foot structure that Panattoni had finished at the end of 2015. The area had been underserved, but an extension of the roadway from I-55 to I-80, completed in late 2007, opened up a whole new corridor for deliveries.

Working with joint venture partner PCCP, Panattoni, Phase I consisted of two speculative light industrial buildings. Illinois Industrial Tool took 166,092 square feet in the second building in August, and the lease with DFS fills the rest.

355 Corporate Center sits less than one mile from a full interchange at 159th and I-355, seven miles from I-55 and five miles from I-80. It can accommodate additional build-to-suit or spec development. Buildings at the park feature 32' clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems and have more than a half mile of highway frontage on I-355.

“We remain very bullish on that submarket and only wish we had more land to develop more product there,” adds Rosenberg.

The industrial sector has become the hottest segment in commercial real estate. How will logistics companies keep up with the market forces of omnichannel commerce? When will new supply finally catch up with demand? Who's putting investment capital into industrial and what does the future hold? Join us at RealShare Industrial on November 16 and 17 for answers to these and other questions. Learn more.

Instant Insights /

I-355 Speculative Buildings Filling Up Fast

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