CHICAGO—The industrial market in Southeast Wisconsin is on fire, and the Opus Group believes its time to start building new options for users looking for relatively small spaces. The Minneapolis-based company has just unveiled plans for a 155,844 square foot speculative industrial project in Mt. Pleasant, a town just west of Racine and about 60 miles north of Chicago. The building will be the first in the Mt. Pleasant Business Park. Opus will begin construction on the project this month.

“There are really two separate markets in Southeast Wisconsin,” Julie Ledger, vice president and general manager, Opus Development Co., LLC, tells GlobeSt.com. “We've seen a lot of new construction for big industrial users in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie, places that tend to draw companies from the Chicago area. Mt. Pleasant tends to draw the smaller firms from around Milwaukee and Racine.”

“The vacancy rate here is about 3% to 4%,” she adds, “and there has been a lot of activity but many of the properties that are available are not the best.” A few local landlords have space available in buildings with 28' to 30' clear ceiling heights, but this new project will offer prospective tenants 32' ceilings. “We do think that this differentiates our product from the competition.”