Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group said it plans to develop an industrial site on two parcels of land along I-90 totalling 21 acres in the suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
A 200,000-square-foot building will sit on 17 acres, while the remaining four acres will be used for build-to-suit additions. The site is 10 miles northwest of O’Hare International Airport and has easy access to “key” highway systems, Brennan said in a statement. The company didn’t say how much it paid for the land or when construction is expected to be complete.
The company has acquired $5 billion in industrial real estate since 2010. Its development pipeline will exceed $1 billion in 2022, said Scott McKibben, Brennan’s chief investment officer. Brennan, which buys, develops and operates industrial facilities, bought an eight-property industrial portfolio in December, along with New York-based Arch Street Capital Advisors, from an unidentified car parts supplier. The acquisition brought another 1.6 million square feet of industrial space into the companies’ portfolio. It was the ninth joint venture between Brennan and Arch Street, which together own almost 25 million square feet. Brennan’s portfolio spans 27 states and encompasses about 46 million square feet, about half of which is in the Midwest. It owns more than 100 properties in the Chicago area.
Industrial space in and around Chicago is becoming scarce. Craig Huvitz, vice president of research for the Chicago market at Collier’s, predicted the all-time low industrial vacancy rate of 5.39 percent, set in the third quarter of 2000, will fall this quarter. About 50 million square feet of industrial space was leased last year.
Chicago’s industrial real estate market is projected to add a record 220,000 jobs this year. Previously, the industrial market’s growth has come from the increased need for last-mile warehouses, but that is projected to change as supply chain disruptions place a greater need on moving raw materials and goods cross country.