The 26-acre parcel was acquired from Murphy Real Estate and Development LLC, based in LaGrange, for approximately $7 million, O'Leary says. Keith Puritz, with CB Richard Ellis, represented Duke in the sales transaction. Kevin Clifton and Chris Cumins, both with Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc., represented Murphy Real Estate in the transaction.

Murphy Real Estate had plans to construct a business park with office and industrial space, but its plan was turned down by the Gurnee Village Board. Duke's plan does not have any industrial space, and there are new people on the village board, so the developer does not expect any problems in proceeding with the development, O'Leary says. Duke is acquiring 13 acres to the south for an undisclosed price. The seller is a "local private individual who has had the land for a long time," O'Leary says.

Duke was interested in the site because it is in the north suburban submarket. "The north market, in general, is fairly tight [and] there are not a lot of large blocks of available land," O'Leary says. "The market has performed better than most submarkets in Chicago," he says noting that there is low vacancy rates and good demand. The parcel is also located near Interstate 94. Duke hopes to start construction next summer on an approximate 100,000-sf facility. "We are marketing that as a build-to-suit site but we may elect to go speculative if market fundamentals continue to move in the direction they have," he says. The first building is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2009. Asking lease rates for the building have not been decided yet but the average asking rate in the area is between $15.75 per sf and $16.75 per sf, net, O'Leary says.