CHICAGO—As reported in GlobeSt.com last week, RyanCompanies US Inc. has completed two speculative industrial buildings, bothin the suburban Elgin submarket, in the last 60 days. AndJohn Dunneback, the company's director ofdevelopment, tells GlobeSt.com that this corner of the Chicagometro area is well-positioned to see a significant amount of newconstruction. Ryan Companies, for example, is set to launch moreprojects in the immediate area once spring comes.

“Historically, this has been a pretty solid market,” he says.The growth typically does not come from big outsiders coming in toset up shop, but from the expansion of a group of smaller firmswith deep attachments to the local area. Unlike the denser I-55 orI-290 submarkets, from which trucks can reach Chicago in as littleas 20 minutes, Elgin and its environs serves “a unique set of usersthat wish to focus on the northwest corner of the suburbs. Iwouldn't say it's isolated, but it is more of a destinationsubmarket.”

Ryan's most recently completed building is a 108,000-square-footbuilding at 2725 Alft Ln. in the company's RandallCrossings Business Park. This follows the completion of a225,000-square-foot building in the same park at 2750 Alft Ln.These buildings were for two different ownership groups and each“felt quite comfortable about taking the lease-up risk.” Thesmaller building was leased up before it was finished and thelarger is already about half-leased. The two buildings thatDunneback anticipates beginning construction on next year will have85,000-square-feet and 246,000-square-feet next year.