CHICAGO—After a gap of many years, Chicago's suburbs are finally seeing a new speculative office development. Principle Construction Corp., a full-service design build general contractor, broke ground last Wednesday on a 43,227-square-foot speculative project, referred to as the OWL 3 Spec Office, at 1250 Windham Pkwy. in Romeoville, IL.

It's a small project, but any new construction in the suburbs is rare. And what construction there is typically consist of build-to-suits or renovations of older buildings that now need modern amenities to compete with class A office spaces in downtown Chicago.

“We're looking forward to working with Principle on the first new office project in the I-55 corridor in some time,” says Frank G. Sciackitano, vice president at Lakeview Realty Investors. “Our combined experience working in the southwest suburbs should help us attract multiple new tenants to this submarket.”

As reported in GlobeSt.com, in 2016 Schaumburg-based REM Builders began a 60,000-square-foot speculative office redevelopment at 2100 Swift Rd. in Oak , but that involved stripping an existing three-story building down to the columns and rebuilding it as class A office. The only significant new suburban office buildings completed in 2017 were two single tenant properties built for the American Academy of Pediatrics in Itasca and the Duchossois Group in Oak Brook. Another builder has started construction on a single tenant development in Des Plaines for Vetter, a German pharmaceutical company, one of several build-to-suits underway.

Lakeview's new building will have suites for up to ten tenants with a ceiling height of 10 feet with an extensive window line. Principle will construct the masonry and steel building with permeable pavers, native landscaping and a white TPO roof in order to achieve LEED certification. The building will have five distinct entrances, and up to five more for each office suite. In addition, there will be parking for 205 vehicles. This will be the first LEED certified office building in Romeoville. Completion is slated for October, 2018.

“We're seeing a resurgence in demand for office space in the suburbs,” Mark E. Augustyn, chief operating officer of Principle says. “This new building will give some of those tenants the modern amenities they're looking for.”

Lakeview owns the four-acre site and will also own the building. Frank G. Sciackitano II, vice president of Lakeview, and Jim Adler of NAI Hiffman will represent the company. Sander Kaplan of SKJN Architeckten is the architect for the project. Augustyn will serve as the principal on the project. Principle's Rob Gibbons will be the senior project manager, and Principle's Mark Frane will serve as superintendent.

Instant Insights /

Spec Office Construction Coming to the Suburbs

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