Duke Pencils 140,000-SF Spec Office Building

Rosemont Crossings I will also have a single level parking garage. The project is geared toward larger users of at least 50,000 sf or possibly a single tenant, Schnur says. "O'Hare is a great market right now for consolidation," he says. The building was designed by Wright Heerema Architects, based in Chicago. Construction is expected to begin in October and be completed in August 2008. The asking lease rate will be $18 per sf net, he says. CB Richard Ellis will be leasing the property.

The building is being constructed on the northern part of a 16-acre parcel Duke acquired last year from village of Rosemont and Chicagoan-Fred Cooper, Schnur says. A 250,000-sf warehouse was on the property that Duke demolished. Duke could construct another 300,000 sf to 400,000 sf on the remaining 11 acres and will possibly construct another speculative building or a build-to-suit facility, he says. The parcel is within walking distance from public transportation and has frontage along I-294. Duke recently completed a 71,000-sf, build-to-suit office building across the street from Rosemont Crossings I for the US Customs and Border Patrol Division of the Government Services Administration, Schnur says.

There had been no speculative office buildings constructed in the area since 2001 because of a cooling of the office market, he says. The market has become stronger in the last year, Schnur says. "We think there is currently a shortage of large blocks of class A space, especially new space," he says.