According to a recent report by Colliers, the construction of new large-scale retail developments in 2024 experienced a significant slowdown. Only 27 buildings with an area of over 200,000 square feet were completed, totaling to approximately 13.5 million square feet.
This is the lowest level of big box construction since 2018 when only about 10.2 million square feet were built. Out of these newly finished projects, three had an area larger than one million square feet.
Speculative construction also saw a decline in activity with only about eight point eight million square feet being built across twenty-one buildings in comparison to the previous year’s completion rate of twenty-seven point four million square feet – marking a decrease by sixty-seven point seven percent.
As per records at the end of that year, twelve more buildings spanning five-point nine-million-square-feet remained under development – two out which are speculative projects.
Chicago’s big box industrial market currently comprises eight hundred and thirty-four facilities spread over three hundred eighty-one-million-square-feet; eighty-five percent owned by institutions while owner-occupied properties make up fifteen percent.
The Connect CRE article reports on this trend as “Report: Big Box Speculative Construction Slows Down.”
