Construction of the three-story speculative office is expected to begin by May 1, says James Adler, EVP with NAI Hiffman's office brokerage group. Mars will start construction with probably a minimum of 5,000 sf of the space preleased, says, Daniel O'Neill, EVP. The 90,000-sf building is expected to be completed in April 2009, Adler says. The asking lease rate for the building is $17.50 per sf, net. Adler and O'Neill are the leasing agents for the project.

The business park is located at intersection of County Line Road and Interstate 55. The office park already has a 50,000-sf building at 180 Harvester and an 110,000-sf building at 130 Harvester, with a total of 650 parking spaces. The building at 180 Harvester was constructed in 2005 and the multi-story building at 130 Harvester was constructed in 2006, O'Neill says. The first two office buildings are 100% leased. Tenants include Insure One, University of Chicago, Rockwell Automation, NuFarm Americas, Accenture and KDA. Within the past 60 days, NBC Universal signed a lease for 6,300 sf and Atlas Tube recently signed a lease for 3,700 sf at Estancia Executive Center, Adler says.

Mars acquired the 16-acre vacant parcel in June 2004. The property was zoned to allow for a multi-storied structure with up to 450,000 sf, Adler says. "The previous zoning allowed for a lot more square footage and deck parking," he says. "We did not feel the market would be able to absorb it in a reasonable period of time."