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OAK BROOK, IL-In addition to selling 10 more properties totaling 2.8 million sf to close out August for $114 million, CenterPoint Properties Trust has six million sf in its development pipeline. That includes 2.3 million sf under construction at a cost of $103.5 million, company officials note in their recent second-quarter earnings report.

The negotiations involve a 509,000-sf build-to-suit deal at the REIT's O'Hare Express North that would develop the remaining land site in the airport industrial park, says senior vice president of development Michael Murphy. Those talks are "very far down the road," he adds.

The most recent sales activity is the second group of properties going to Australia-based JF US Industrial Trust. The entire phased portfolio sale will ultimately total $392.7 million. Another 25 buildings totaling 4.7 million sf will go to the trust managed by James Fielding Funds Management Ltd. through March 2006.

In addition to the talks involving the last development parcel at O'Hare Express North, CenterPoint Properties Trust is negotiating with a food processing company for a 150,000-sf manufacturing facility at McCook Business Center, which the REIT will sell off after completion in the second quarter of 2006. Murphy notes it is the third deal at McCook Business Center in the last six months, following two build-to-suits totaling 398,000 sf. In addition, five acres are under contract with a commercial developer, Murphy says, with a third-quarter closing expected.

"Strong build-to-suit demand has prompted us to undertake selective speculative building promising better than average risk-adjusted total returns," Murphy says. "Customer lead time has shortened, garnering premiums for ready-to-go space."

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