COMMERCIAL SERVICES (pg.18): CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES GENERAL CONTRACTORS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS FINANCE FIRMS RE LAW FIRMS
VOL.35 NO.6
THE LEADING NEWS SOURCE FOR INDUSTRIAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS & USERS
DECEMBER 2025
From Scale to Selectivity
Why CenterPoint’s 2026 pipeline favors entitled land and infrastructure-led strategy
aleksandarlittlewolf for freepik
E
veryone is talking about rising industrial demand heading into 2026, but that’s not the story developers are living. Their real bottlenecks sit deeper in the system: power access, build-to-suit complexity, lender scrutiny and capital partners that now expect sustainability baked into every inch of design. For most developers that reality is a drag. For CenterPoint
Properties, it has become a competitive advantage. Chicago’s industrial market is heading into 2026 with an unusual mix of momentum and restraint. Leasing activity has rebounded sharply, hitting 35.9 million square feet through Q3 according to Avison Young’s latest market data, and big-box commitments have returned with force. Yet de-
velopment has throttled back. Only 12.9 million square feet are under construction across the metro, down 55 percent from the peak two years ago (AY Q3 report, page 2). This tightening pipeline has reshaped not just what gets built, but who is positioned to build it. DEVELOPERS (continued on page 12)