CHICAGO—The vacancy rate among the industrial properties that surround O'Hare International Airport has plunged to its lowest point in many years, and DCT Industrial is one of several developers that has moved in to take advantage. The company recently selected Morgan/Harbour Construction to construct a new speculative industrial facility at 2200 Arthur Ave. in suburban Elk Grove Village.

The DCT O'Hare Logistics Center, an 112,862-square-foot warehouse shell facility, will sit on 6.9 acres located between Rte. 83 and Elmhurst Rd. just minutes from the airport. The property was recently demolished to make way for this new multi-tenant building. Woodridge, IL-based Morgan/Harbour will conduct the design, permitting, site development and building construction. The new 32' clear height facility will feature 38 exterior dock positions and 40 dedicated trailer stalls in a fully-secured truck court.

By the end of last year, the vacancy rate in the O'Hare submarket had sunk to just 5.98%, a drop of 240 bps in just one year, according to Colliers International. “This represents the largest year-over-year decline of any Chicago-area market in 2014,” the firm noted. “The last time that the O'Hare market's vacancy rate fell below 6% was in the first quarter of 2001, when a rate of 5.32% was reported.”