"The plan was always to build a spec building there and fill it up," Tim Hennelly, VP of development for Ryan's Chicago office, tells GlobeSt.com. "As a developer in that park, we thought the cap rates were starting to notch up a little bit, and I think that's come to be true. We thought we'd strike while the iron was hot, before the cap rates really notched up."

The cap rate on the deal was 7.35% for the first 12 months. Rent is slated to increase by 2.5% per year for the remainder of Iron Mountain's decade-long lease. The building was marketed for around $5.25 per square foot net, but Hennelly says Iron Mountain got a lower rate because of leasing the entire property.

The property was originally undertaken as a build-to-suit deal, which eventually fell through. The building sat vacant from its completion in summer 2008 until Iron Mountain's lease earlier this year. The facility offers proximity to the Northwest Tollway, five percent office space, two drive-in doors, 30-foot clear ceilings, ESFR sprinkler systems, and eight exterior docks, expandable to 22.

"The location, within a quarter mile of the Randall Road interchange and in great proximity to the interstate, was the reason we were attracted originally to the land we bought and developed," Hennelly says. "The city of Elgin is very pro-development and very eager to attract new companies into town. Companies come to Elgin because of the incentives the city gives."

The property is located in the north Kane County submarket. "The vacancy is higher than it has been for 10 years out there, so it is struggling a little bit for deal velocity, but relative to the rest, it's doing pretty well," Hennelly says. "Rents have certainly gotten hammered down a little bit over the past 12 months, but certainly not as bad as the 55 and 80 corridors. Kane County has lower taxes, so that's attractive and there's been a lot of migration there."

Ryan also owns a 320,000-square-foot building in Randall Crossings, with tenants including Hitachi and Pride Mobility and about 150,000 square feet remaining available. Asking lease rates for the space are around $4.20 per square foot net. Lee & Associates is leasing the space on behalf of Ryan.

The company also owns an additional 35 acres of land in the park, also being marketed by Lee & Associates. "We're not considering any spec, but we are flexible," Hennelly says. "We would do a build-to-suit for sale and we're looking at a deal to sell some land. We're flexible for lease or sale, but no spec."