Industry News

The Alter Group to Develop Two Industrial Buildings at Lake Center Corporate Park

The Alter Group is developing two industrial buildings totaling 256,426 SF on 31 acres at Lake Center Corporate Park in Mt. Prospect, IL, northwest of Chicago, announced Michael J. Alter, President of the Chicago-based national corporate real estate development firm.

“Occupying a prime site at the intersection of Algonquin (Route 62) and Elmhurst Roads (Route 83) and just minutes from O’Hare International Airport, the speculative buildings are intended to support expanding air freight traffic,” said Patrick E. Gallagher, Senior Vice President of The Alter Group.  “The buildings also are the first new industrial space that The Alter Group has developed in the Chicago market in some time.  Although we are active nationally, the Lake Center Corporate Park buildings mark the beginning of additional industrial projects in the Chicago area.”

Ground for the 147,813 SF and 108,613 SF buildings will be broken in May of 2007, with delivery expected in the first quarter of 2008. The parcel represents the last large available site this close to O’Hare, and has the convenient access to I-90 necessary for distribution and air freight firms to operate.

According to year-end market research, more than 20.6 million SF of industrial space was delivered in Chicago during 2006, making the metropolitan area the nation’s leading distribution market with a base exceeding 1 billion SF.

“At year’s end, industrial construction starts totaled more than 19.8 million SF, the largest amount of new projects seen in the Chicago market in more than 10 years,” Gallagher said. “Speculative construction accounted for 74.1 percent of those starts, a fact that clearly demonstrates the market’s confidence in Chicago’s solid industrial base. And despite the rapid pace of new construction, demand is keeping pace with the supply, with year-end 2006 leasing totaling 37.9 million SF for the metropolitan area.

“The multibillion dollar modernization program currently underway at O’Hare will improve the airport’s capacity for handling domestic and international air freight at a vital gateway for exports and imports to and from Western European and Pacific Rim countries. The 101 million SF O’Hare industrial submarket reported a low 6.5 percent vacancy rate and strong pent-up need for new space, due to smaller users moving out of obsolete buildings to free up land needed for the airport expansion,” Gallagher said.

The Alter Group is a national corporate real estate development firm with five vertically integrated affiliate companies. Each offers specialized services including brokerage, construction, and property management.

The firm, which was founded by William A. Alter in 1955, has developed close to 100,000,000 SF of speculative projects for its own portfolio and build-to-suit facilities for corporate users. In 2004, the company has 6,700,000 SF of space, worth $758,000,000 under development in growth markets across the nation.  In addition, The Alter Group owns 18 business parks nationally, and 1,500 acres of vacant, improved land for future development.

The firm ranks number 18 in the National Real Estate Investor survey of America’s top industrial developers.