Dive summary:

• It's not the newest craze – or what some may think is a crazy idea – but in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, there has been a resurrection of the idea of building offices buildings on spec rather than for pre-leased tenants.
• In Chicago, Houston-based Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge, based in Canada, say they are going to go ahead with a 45-story office project in the West Loop area.
• In New York, two spec projects are being built, and there is a plan in San Francisco to start a 400,000-square-foot project this fall.

From the article:

"It's a race to see who can get the anchors out there," said Bill Rogers, a broker with Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago who represents another large law firm in the market for new space. ...