HSA began building specs there about 10 years ago, Smietana adds, several years before the new entrance was finished. “We took a little bit of a chance,” but eventually, buying up 57 acres of land in Plainfield paid off. “Right now, we are just a stone's throw away from the new entrance to the airport.”

As reported in GlobeSt.com, leasing activity in Plainfield has been quite robust. And other changes to the airport are underway. FedEx has decided to move forward with a $170 million update of its longtime airport hub. In addition, the state recently approved a $1.2 billion-a-year road-funding package that will improve state and local roadways.

HSA is also currently having great success with its new speculative building in Lebanon, TN, near Nashville's airport, which is undergoing a massive $1.2 billion expansion. A company has just agreed to take about half of its 652,000 square feet.

The industrial submarket surrounding Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is one of the strongest in the nation. It now has a vacancy rate of just 4%, down from 4.8% at this same time last year, according to Transwestern. The high demand has certainly boosted investors' confidence. In the first quarter, a total of 718,645 square feet exchanged hands, with the average sales price at $50 per square foot, Transwestern reports.

And infrastructure is expanding to help meet the demand. A four-year project to add lanes to I-90 just wrapped up, and the Illinois Tollway recently approved a $4 billion plan to widen a portion of the Tri-State Tollway, which runs immediately east of O'Hare.

But there is also talk of opening an entrance on the airport's western side to lessen the congestion usually found on the eastern access routes. “I think that would be a game changer,” says Smietana. And he expects that, like the Indianapolis region, Chicago would also see a flood of industrial construction near its new entrance. However, this would require a lot of effort as “there is not a lot of vacant land.” Furthermore, the plans are not nearly as advanced as they were at Indianapolis' airport when HSA began building in Plainfield. “There is an uncertainty here that we need to take seriously. It's hard to bet on it.”

CHICAGO—The rise of e-commerce has given an incredible boost to the nation's logistics sector. Developers are in the midst of a historic construction boom, which so far shows no sign of ending. And the submarkets that stand to benefit the most from this explosive growth are the ones with the best transportation infrastructure. Increasingly, that means properties with quick access to airports.

“There is no better place to be,” Bob Smietana, chief executive officer of HSA Commercial Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com. And the growing desire among consumers to get their online purchases delivered fast means the importance of airport-adjacent properties should continue to increase.

The Chicago-based HSA has recently completed or launched a number of speculative projects in the regions around Chicago, Indianapolis and Nashville. And all of these distribution buildings are near an airport.

A big change came to Indianapolis International Airport when an entrance was created on its western side close to the suburb of Plainfield. New industrial buildings sprouted like mushrooms near the entrance, including five created by HSA, and now form a distribution hub of national significance. The company will soon complete a 151,220-square-foot speculative warehouse in Plainfield.

HSA began building specs there about 10 years ago, Smietana adds, several years before the new entrance was finished. “We took a little bit of a chance,” but eventually, buying up 57 acres of land in Plainfield paid off. “Right now, we are just a stone's throw away from the new entrance to the airport.”

As reported in GlobeSt.com, leasing activity in Plainfield has been quite robust. And other changes to the airport are underway. FedEx has decided to move forward with a $170 million update of its longtime airport hub. In addition, the state recently approved a $1.2 billion-a-year road-funding package that will improve state and local roadways.

HSA is also currently having great success with its new speculative building in Lebanon, TN, near Nashville's airport, which is undergoing a massive $1.2 billion expansion. A company has just agreed to take about half of its 652,000 square feet.

The industrial submarket surrounding Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is one of the strongest in the nation. It now has a vacancy rate of just 4%, down from 4.8% at this same time last year, according to Transwestern. The high demand has certainly boosted investors' confidence. In the first quarter, a total of 718,645 square feet exchanged hands, with the average sales price at $50 per square foot, Transwestern reports.

And infrastructure is expanding to help meet the demand. A four-year project to add lanes to I-90 just wrapped up, and the Illinois Tollway recently approved a $4 billion plan to widen a portion of the Tri-State Tollway, which runs immediately east of O'Hare.

But there is also talk of opening an entrance on the airport's western side to lessen the congestion usually found on the eastern access routes. “I think that would be a game changer,” says Smietana. And he expects that, like the Indianapolis region, Chicago would also see a flood of industrial construction near its new entrance. However, this would require a lot of effort as “there is not a lot of vacant land.” Furthermore, the plans are not nearly as advanced as they were at Indianapolis' airport when HSA began building in Plainfield. “There is an uncertainty here that we need to take seriously. It's hard to bet on it.”