SBA Trucking and logistics Feasibility Study Consultant – Illinois

Trucking and logistics is Illinois's signature SBA category. General freight trucking is the state's top SBA industry, a product of Chicagoland's position as the continent's rail and intermodal crossroads. Chicago industrial vacancy sat between 4.7% (Cushman & Wakefield) and 5.9% (Avison Young) in Q3 2026, depending on broker, well below the 6.8% national rate. Cushman & Wakefield reported 40.0 million square feet of year-to-date leasing (+33.8%) and an average net asking rent around $7.55/sf. Avison Young tracked 18.2 million square feet under construction, 53% of it speculative.

For owner-occupied 504 projects, the core question is own versus lease. Tight vacancy supports ownership economics, but a specialized cold-storage building must still be underwritten for re-leasing if the operating business fails.

Mini case: Moovers Chicago used two SBA 504 loans through SomerCor to renovate 8,500 square feet and cut occupancy costs by roughly $52,000 a year.

What our Illinois study tests

• own-vs-lease cost comparison
• submarket vacancy and rent comps
• customer concentration and contract review
• specialized-building re-leasing analysis
• DSCR under freight-cycle downside.

Illinois SBA record: 2,387 trucking and logistics loans, $661.0M, 9.7% seasoned adverse rate.

Fee and delivery date are fixed in your written proposal before you sign. Hotels, multi-phase construction and assisted living take longer than single-site retail projects.

Illinois SBA lending data, requirements and market research →