Online shopping and gentrification is fueling a bona fide building boom of warehouse spaces in Chicago.
Ryan Ori reports: "In the shadows of the apartment, hotel and office towers rising in recent years, an often unnoticed form of real estate has begun taking off in Chicago: warehouses."
"Developers are on track to complete at least seven speculative warehouses—constructed without leases signed in advance—in Chicago between late 2015 and the end of 2017, adding up to more than 1 million square feet of space," adds Ori.
"That is more than double the amount of spec industrial space built in the city in the previous 14 years combined…"
The sudden spec industrial space developments are filling a need created by rapidly growing online shopping and e-commerce businesses. Among the companies driving the demand for warehouse space in Chicago, for instance is Amazon.
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