The Opus Group is building a two-building industrial development in Mokena which will total 268,225 square feet. Construction began this month and the completion is scheduled for June of 2020 per RE Journals.
The project is situated on 16 acres and will offer access to the LaGrange Avenue and I-80 interchange and will be visible from I-80. The first building will be 154,581 square feet and the second building will be 113,644 square feet. The Opus Group is the developer, design-builder and architect and structural engineer of record. Lee & Associates will market the speculative buildings for lease.
"We're excited to have this modern industrial development underway. The Mokena market is ripe for industrial growth and this project will offer functional space for warehouse and distribution tenants."
Opus' Senior Director of Real Estate Development | Mike Robinson
According to RE Journals, since the start of this cycle, the Chicago metro market has welcomed 242 speculative industrial projects totaling 65 million square feet, contrasting with 211 build-to-suits totaling 52 million square feet. As the latest quarterly numbers show, there's no slowdown yet in spec development.
Chicago's spec industrial product now sits at a 29.8 percent vacancy rate - the lowest of the current cycle and well below the 47.5 percent vacancy rate of just two years ago. This figure has decreased in each of the past 10 quarters which suggests that demand for new speculative warehouse space is outpacing new supply and the market is not being overbuilt.
Per Opus Group, they are headquartered in Minneapolis with offices and projects across the country. Opus operates as an integrated, multidisciplinary team with experience in development, capital markets and finance; project management and construction; architecture, engineering and interior design. They specialize in industrial, office, residential, retail and institutional projects.