CHICAGO—Swap.com, a fast-growing online retailer, has just signed a 361,000 square foot lease at 850 Veteran's Parkway in suburban Bolingbrook, marking its second major expansion since its founding in 2013. At its previous location, Swap.com, which offers a selection of pre-owned baby, kid's, maternity and women's apparel and accessories, occupied just 66,000 square feet.

“It's indicative of what we're seeing with e-commerce firms,” Jason West, an industrial specialist based in Cushman & Wakefield's Rosemont office, tells GlobeSt.com. Swap.com began as an operation with 15 employees but now has a staff of 100 handling an inventory of more than 340,000 items. “This lease represents positive net absorption of approximately 300,000 square feet within the I-55 industrial submarket and will push down the vacancy rate by nearly 40 bps.”

“It's really challenging to get these real estate deals done,” he adds. West assisted Swap.com in securing its initial lease as well as this new expansion. It is the fifth e-commerce lease completed by West's team this year. The e-commerce firms often want short-term leases because they anticipate rapid growth that could require a series of quick moves. But landlords, of course, always prefer the stability of long-term leases. “There is a point of contention there.”