For years the technology park south of DuPage Airport in West Chicago languished, unable to lure more than a few businesses. About four years ago the DuPage Airport Authority decided to try a different way at DuPage Business Center.
What used to be a three-building park now sports 15 buildings, with another 100 acres under contract for possible sale in 2023, according to John Whitehead, executive vice president at NAI Hiffman. NAI Hiffman has seen just over 4.1 million square feet of development since it got involved in 2018, with another 925,000 square feet of planned speculative development for that land under contract.
There's little land left available in Naperville, about 6 miles to the south, and there's little land left in central DuPage, towns like Glendale Heights and Carol Stream, Whitehead and his colleague Mark Moran said. It was only natural to look toward this spot. There are just three or four small properties still available -- a 10-acre site, two 6-acre sites and one 5-acre site -- but because they are odd-shaped plots, it will be harder to find someone willing to make use of them. But once those plots are gone, Moran and Whitehead will have to move on to other things."I wish we had another 300 or 400 acres because the demand is still there," Moran added.