Activity and leadership in the vicinity of another airport is taking the Chicago bull by the horns. In December 2005, the new DuPage National Technology Park (DNTP) in West Chicago welcomed its first major announcement when Pella Corp. announced it would be its first tenant, planning to occupy a new 174,352-sq.-ft. (16,197-sq.-m.) sales and service building developed and owned by DNTP master developer CenterPoint Properties Trust, which along with First Industrial Realty Trust may be the lead actor in Chicago industrial real estate. Pella expects to transition 255 team members from its facility in neighboring Carol Stream, Ill., by the end of summer 2006.
   DNTP is being developed on 800 of the DuPage Airport Authority's 2,800 acres (1,133 hectares). Its aims are industrial but multifaceted, as exemplified by Pella's plans to use their facility to house some of its IT operations as well as a sales and service showroom. The move comes at a time of growth for Pella too, which announced in February 2005 it would build a 275,000-sq.-ft. (25,548-sq.-m.), 480-employee window manufacturing plant in Macomb, Ill., near the Quad Cities. That project will see up to $7 million in incentives, and is scheduled to open in March 2006. Pella in October 2005 announced it would also invest in a new manufacturing facility in Tucson, Ariz.
   Like Pella, national flooring accessory supplier Roanoke Companies Group is expanding to meet the needs of the nation's growing building materials and remodeling market, as it also builds in DuPage Co., constructing a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,290-sq.-m.) manufacturing and distribution facility in Aurora.
   DNTP's primary focus, meanwhile, is on opening doors to high-tech R&D, as the park seeks to draw on the activity associated with both Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory just to the south and the Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont. Argonne, in fact, is in negotiations with Centerpoint to open a facility at DNTP. Overall plans call for 2 million sq. ft. (185,800 sq. m.) of industrial space and 2.6 million sq. ft. (241,540 sq. m.) for technology companies. The park's development thus far has seen $16 million from federal sources and $34 million from the State of Illinois.
   Unlike many airports that have found themselves hemmed in by encroaching residential and commercial development, DuPage has actively pursued both land purchases and planning vision in order to expand both its business clientele and the aviation facilities of its general and corporate aviation airport. How has it avoided the trap in which so many communities find themselves? It may help that Dan Goodwin, CEO of the DuPage Airport Authority, is also the CEO of Inland Real Estate.
   DuPage is seeing other growth from the city diaspora: Nufarm Americas, Inc., a subsidiary of Australian agricultural chemical firm Nufarm, is moving from Cook County to a newly developed Mars Equities office facility in Burr Ridge, just across the county line.
   "Its pending move to DuPage County will result in significant savings for the company," said Keith Cade, associate director of Newmark Knight Frank, who represented Nufarm in the transaction. He said the move will save Nufarm $2 per square foot in taxes alone because of the shift from Cook to DuPage County.
   "Nufarm's lease expires in 2006, but our site search began a year in advance," Cade said. "When factors such as future growth, workplace design and long-term flexibility were considered, it was determined that the new development best met Nufarm's needs. Mars Equities is developing a great product."
   "Nufarm's operations will be located under one roof," said Wendy Theres, Corporate Services Manager for Nufarm Americas. "It's a perfect fit. The transaction allows us to design space that meets our demands and gives Nufarm the ability to add space as the company grows."
   In the DuPage community of Elmhurst, also just across the county line from Cook, The Alter Group is developing a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,290-sq.-m.) headquarters for Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service adjacent to its current headquarters. In this case, the company has always been in Elmhurst, and looks like it will be for some time to come.
   "Our new corporate headquarters reflects the remarkable progress this company has made since 1959 when my parents established DuPage County's first ambulance service in their Bellwood home," said David Hill III, company president, at the project announcement in July 2005. "This company's roots date from a time when local accident victims were taken to the hospital in converted hearses owned by funeral homes and manned by drivers with no first-aid training. Superior's evolution over 46 years has transformed the company into one of the region's largest ambulance firms and mirrors DuPage County's expansion."