Prologis Plans 1 Million Square Feet Near Chicago as Industrial Construction Rebounds

Prologis is adding another large development to its Chicago-area pipeline with Minooka Exchange, a planned logistics facility of just over one million square feet on 69 acres in Minooka, Illinois.

The project is designed as a single-story cross-dock building with 40-foot clear height, 290 car spaces and a 185-foot truck court. The site sits next to Canadian National Railway’s Chicago Logistics Hub and close to the I-80 corridor, giving the development direct exposure to major freight infrastructure.

For Prologis, the project is not large relative to its global portfolio. The strategic value comes from strengthening a local cluster where the company already owns hundreds of properties and tens of millions of square feet.

Chicago’s development market is also changing. The supplied source cites 16.9 million square feet of active big-box construction in the second quarter, up 80% from a year earlier. That rebound creates both opportunity and risk.

New supply can support leasing if demand is strong enough, but an 80% increase in construction also means investors should not accept “supply constrained” as a permanent condition. The timing of deliveries, tenant demand and submarket vacancy will determine whether new projects earn attractive returns.

Minooka Exchange has several characteristics that can support leasing. Large clear height, modern loading design and proximity to rail infrastructure are valuable to major distribution users. The single-building scale can also appeal to tenants that need regional fulfillment capacity rather than smaller infill space.

The project follows another Prologis land acquisition in Glendale Heights, where the company plans two Class A logistics facilities totaling about 454,000 square feet. Together, the developments show that Prologis is still willing to deploy capital in Chicago despite rising construction activity.

Investors should evaluate the project through the same lens as the company’s broader development pipeline: expected yield on cost, lease-up pace and whether capital is being placed in locations where rents can support new construction economics.

BTI’s bottom line: Minooka Exchange is a meaningful addition to Prologis’ Chicago footprint, but the investment signal is not the one-million-square-foot headline. The real question is whether Prologis can lease new capacity profitably as regional construction accelerates.