The pace of new development, however, helps make even the near future a bit uncertain. During the third quarter, 25 new construction starts were initiated totaling 7.3 million square feet. Through the first three quarters of 2016, developers completed 15 million square feet of new product, and that figure should exceed 20 million square feet once the year wraps up.

Hurvitz says Core5 will soon launch a new distribution center in Joliet that will have about one million square feet. And nearby, Hillwood will soon break ground a speculative building with 992,000 square feet.

“We'll see what happens when the nearly nine million square feet of speculative construction now underway is completed,” Hurvitz says. “That should be an interesting statistic.”

CHICAGO—Colliers International has decided to take a deep dive into the statistics on the region's industrial market. One of the chief aims was to get a better handle on what is happening with all of the speculative space recently completed by developers. And what researchers found should, at least for now, boost the confidence of anyone interested in the market.

“A lot of brokers have been calling us and asking questions,” Craig Hurvitz, vice president, market research at Colliers International in Chicago, tells GlobeSt.com.

That's understandable. Ongoing industrial construction activity increased to a record 19.4 million square feet during the third quarter, up from 16.7 million square feet in the second. “That's the most we've ever seen, at least since we started tracking these numbers in the late 90s,” he says. And speculative development accounts for 8.7 million square feet, or 44.7% of the 61 total projects underway in Chicago's industrial market, with build-to-suit projects and buildings expansions making up the remainder.

But Colliers found indications that user demand is sufficient to absorb the new space. Of the 25.1 million square feet of speculative space completed since 2013, about 34% remains vacant today. That might cause some to worry the market is overbuilt, but Hurvitz says “that number has been decreasing steadily.” A couple of years ago, for example, the same number stood at around 50%. “That tells you that demand is keeping up with supply, even though many buildings may not be leasing immediately.”

The pace of new development, however, helps make even the near future a bit uncertain. During the third quarter, 25 new construction starts were initiated totaling 7.3 million square feet. Through the first three quarters of 2016, developers completed 15 million square feet of new product, and that figure should exceed 20 million square feet once the year wraps up.

Hurvitz says Core5 will soon launch a new distribution center in Joliet that will have about one million square feet. And nearby, Hillwood will soon break ground a speculative building with 992,000 square feet.

“We'll see what happens when the nearly nine million square feet of speculative construction now underway is completed,” Hurvitz says. “That should be an interesting statistic.”