Glenstar Logistics is still a Chicago story with a Southeast construction site. Its warehouse platform has actually poured concrete, signed a giant tenant and sold an industrial park.
The local market those executives still work from is not sitting still either. Cushman & Wakefield reported that Chicago industrial tenants took 40.0 million square feet of new leases through the third quarter of 2026, up 33.8% from a year earlier. Vacancy held at 4.7% for a fourth straight quarter, only 10 basis points higher than a year before, while average asking net rent rose 3.9% to $7.53 a square foot.
Land First, Then a Tenant's Checklist
Glenstar Logistics controls more than 400 acres in the Southeast.
The company has been describing that land position for a while. In an October 22, 2024 sale announcement, Glenstar said it had "400+ acres currently under control" and that it had hired principal Brian Netzky so facilities could be shaped from the tenant's side of the table. A separate company account says the 2022 hire was a 30-year industrial veteran who had handled occupier strategy and site selection for leases spanning more than 30 million square feet in more than 70 major markets.
Glenstar's site-selection approach considers labor, population trends and transportation. The stated belief is that flexible buildings in strong locations will draw users.
The pitch for scale is organizational rather than mystical. Glenstar's existing relationships are part of that pitch.
Gaffney Is No Longer a Rendering
Glenstar and capital partner Creek Lane Capital said they had started the first phase of a park planned for 3.6 million square feet. The opening warehouse was described as a cross-docked 550,520-square-foot building that could expand to 1.3 million.
On November 19, 2025, Glenstar said it had leased 1.3 million square feet to First Solar at the 290-acre park. The company said the facility was expected to create more than 600 jobs and begin operations in the second half of 2026. At full build-out, Glenstar said, the center would include at least five buildings and 3.6 million square feet. That operations window is the one the calendar is in now. The announcement was an expectation, not a ribbon-cutting.
One Pipeline Swells, Another Cools
Chicago's construction book has moved the other direction. Cushman put 14.8 million square feet of industrial space under construction in the third quarter, up from 9.0 million a year earlier — a 63.8% jump. Vacancy has not cracked, and rents are still climbing, but new space is arriving faster than it was.
Fort Myers, Sold
Fort Myers is the completed chapter. Glenstar completed Tri-County 75 in October 2023, a park of 818,000 square feet that included speculative warehouses. In an October 22, 2024 release, the company said a venture with Columnar Investments had sold the 72-acre, four-building park, which was 95% leased, to an undisclosed buyer.
What is not in dispute is the sequence. A speculative Fort Myers park got built, leased to 95%, and sold. Up the road in South Carolina, a 1.3 million-square-foot First Solar commitment is supposed to be turning into jobs in this half of the year. The warehouse experiment is no longer just a hire and a land map.
