RJW Pre-Leases 1.2Million-Square-Foot Industrial Building Near Chicago, Hits 6.7MSF in 22 Months
RJW Logistics Group has signed a 10-year lease for a 1.2-million-square-foot, build-to-suit warehouse at Karis Park West in Montgomery, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago. JLL, which represented both parties, announced the deal last week. Construction begins this month with delivery anticipated for 2027.
The lease is the latest in a rapid Chicago-area expansion by the Woodridge, Ill.-based third-party logistics provider. With this deal, RJW has committed to roughly 6.7 million square feet of new Chicago-area industrial space in the last 22 months, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. That includes a 788,000-square-foot lease at Plainfield Business Center signed earlier this year, along with facilities in Joliet, Ill., that replaced older space in the region.
RJW’s expansion comes after Boston-based private equity firm Berkshire Partners acquired a majority stake in the company in late 2024. RJW specializes in retail consolidation services for consumer-packaged-goods suppliers shipping into retailers. It had about 1,900 employees as of late 2024. The firm now operates 19 consolidation warehouses nationally, including locations added within the last year in California, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The Montgomery building will sit on 73 acres within the 200-acre Karis Park West master plan, developed by Naples, Fla.-based Karis. Ravago, a Belgian polymer and chemical distributor, opened a 500,000-square-foot facility at the park in June 2025. Additionally, a Karis affiliate based in Geneva, Ill., broke ground on the site in October 2023 with general contractor DSI Group.
JLL Senior Managing Director, Kate Coxworth, and Vice President, Tara Torbik, represented the landlord. Executive Managing Director, Dominic Carbonari, represented RJW.
The deal comes as Chicago-area industrial construction has slowed sharply: In 2025, the region’s development pipeline hit its slowest point in more than a decade.
Even so, tenants continue to sign some of the largest build-to-suit deals in the country here, drawn, in part, by pricing that remains well below the national norm. In-place industrial rents in Chicago averaged $6.69 per square foot in February per Yardi Research — the third-lowest in the Midwest after Kansas City, Mo., and Detroit — compared to a national average of $8.99.