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Avison Young has arranged a Joint Venture transaction between Clarius Partners and Hillwood Investment Properties to develop a 970,123 sf speculative industrial facility in Chicago
Chicago, IL – Global real estate advisory firm, Avison Young has arranged a joint venture transaction between Clarius Partners, LLC and Hillwood Investment Properties to develop a 970,123 speculative industrial building located at 5258 University Parkway, University Park, IL. This represents one of the largest speculative developments in Chicagoland this year.
The transaction was led by Avison Young Industrial Capital Markets Principals Erik Foster and Mike Wilson, along with Avison Young Debt & Equity Finance Principals Scott Singer and Kevin Swartz. Hillwood, a multinational industrial, commercial and residential real estate development company based in Dallas, TX is partnering with Clarius Partners to fund and develop the facility. Clarius and Hillwood will jointly develop and market the project for lease.
“While Chicago’s industrial market remains strong, speculative developments of this scale – nearly 1 MSF – are not common these days.” said Foster. “The sustained interest from developers and investors suggests that the trend toward speculative industrial projects is far from over.”
The 75-acre site is located near primary Midwest transportation corridors, near the first interchange south of the Cook County line in Will County. Neighboring tenants include company giants such as Amazon, Georgia Pacific, Carvana, Smucker’s, ExxonMobil and Home Depot.
“Erik and Mike totally understood and agreed with our investment thesis and vision for this project, and they communicated our vision to the market, and especially to Hillwood, very effectively. That was the key to getting this spec project financed,” said Clarius Managing Principal, Kevin D. Matzke.
“We are excited to enter into a joint venture relationship with Clarius Partners who have done an excellent job of positioning this site for immediate development to allow us to take advantage a very opportune time to deliver a speculative building in Chicagoland”, said Don Schoenheider, Executive Vice President of Hillwood’s Chicago office.
Avison Young’s Q2 2025 Industrial Market report indicates that speculative development gained momentum and tenant demand remains healthy, with 25.2 million square feet (MSF) leased in the first half of 2025. Only two properties in the Chicago market are currently under development on a speculative basis for projects over 800,000 square feet, a notable contrast to the average speculative building size of 264,996 sf.
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