Colliers International | Chicago’s Brian Kling and Reed Adler represented Panattoni Development in the acquisition of a 53.45-acre site located on Orchard Gateway Boulevard in Aurora, Illinois, adjacent to Orchard Road and I-88. On the site, Panattoni will develop Orchard Gateway, a 764,895-square-foot, speculative, Class A warehouse distribution facility. Orchard Gateway will be the largest active construction project in the I-88 Corridor, and one of the largest industrial buildings constructed to date within the submarket.

“Orchard Gateway will represent the largest availability north of Will County for new construction within the Chicago suburbs,” said Kling, a principal at Colliers. “Panattoni was drawn to the premier location, being adjacent to a full interchange at I-88 at Orchard Road. With a location within the second largest city in Illinois, Aurora offers tenants an abundant and well-qualified labor force.”

Alston Construction and Harris Architects have been hired on the project. The cross-docked facility will offer 1,635 feet of frontage along I-88 and immediate access to the full interchange at Orchard Road. Building amenities include 36-foot clear ceiling height, 166 exterior docks, 185 trailer parking positions, four drive-in dorrs and 304 car parking spaces. Divisible to 300,000 square feet, the building will be available for occupancy in the third quarter of 2019 with all tenant build-out finishes available to suit.

“Feeder submarkets, such as Central DuPage, O’Hare and I-290 North and South, continue to experience record low vacancies—including Central DuPage hitting a historical low 3.48 percent vacancy in the third quarter,” said Kling. “These record low vacancies are leaving users unable to find similar product in the infill markets. This lack of inventory is pushing increased development to the west.”

The I-88 Corridor continues to see strong leasing activity, demonstrated by consistent positive absorption, decreasing vacancy rates and recent developments being leased.The submarket’s vacancy rate fell for the fourth straight quarter, decreasing to 5.27 percent to end the third quarter, according to Colliers | Chicago’s Q3 2018 industrial market report. In addition, five speculative projects greater than 300,000 square feet have been built during the current cycle—all of which are now fully leased.