NorthPoint Development is set to launch Compass Global Logistics Hub in Joliet, Illinois.
The $1.7 billion investment will create thousands of new jobs and deliver much-needed logistics space to the region as demand for distribution networks and e-commerce surges.
CBRE has been retained to list the 1,262-arce park, which will include warehouse, distribution and light manufacturing space.
Given the surge in e-commerce, demand for Compass Global Logistics Hub is growing rapidly as logistics-related capacity is increasing within North America’s largest inland port. Prospective employers, including food service and supply manufacturers, have been inquiring about locating there. NorthPoint recently closed on all of the property it needs for the project in Joliet and has been responding to RFPs for companies to locate there.
“With limited sites currently available near the intermodals, interest in Compass Global Logistics Hub has increased dramatically as home delivery needs have skyrocketed,” said CBRE executive vice president, Traci Buckingham Payette. “There are no signs of slowing down and nothing on the scale of this development exists that can accommodate these strategic needs today. With deals ready to happen at Compass Global Logistics Hub, Illinois is well positioned for handling the growth and demand of the global supply chain that serves the entire Midwest today and well into the future.”
The development will be a boon for the local economy as well, bringing an estimated 1,600 annual construction-related jobs, 10,000 full-time permanent positions and 17,000 indirect jobs.
NorthPoint recently closed on the last of the properties it needs to build the facility and is currently marketing the project with bids for construction on the first buildings having recently been issued.
Located in south Joliet approximately 55 miles southwest of Chicago, the master-planned development is strategically located and designed to meet growing freight and transportation needs of North America’s largest inland port, which features the UP and BNSF intermodal facilities that are expanding to accommodate the growing e-commerce industry. The development supports the reliance upon and growth of the new economy and serves as an essential supply-chain hub that is critical to the efficient delivery of goods to some 85 million consumers in the Midwest. Along with the growth in the intermodals, the convergence of I-55 and I-80 near the site provides multi-state access and a strategic hub for distribution networks.
“The retail world has been transforming over the last two decades, and this pandemic will further change the way people shop and rely on products that are delivered to their doorstep,” said Patrick Robinson, vice president of development at NorthPoint Development. “Compass Global Logistics Hub enables Will County and Illinois to stay ahead of these trends while securing new jobs and vital revenue for the future.”
In Chicago, NorthPoint Development made a significant investment on the Southeast Side, launching a $164 million plan to revamp the vacated Republic Steel site. Ford Motor Co. recently announced a new expansion at the Avenue O site, leasing two new buildings and creating hundreds of new UAW jobs for pre-assembly work. Meanwhile in Metro East near St. Louis, NorthPoint is developing Gateway Tradeport, a $312 million state-of-the-art warehouse and logistics center, creating 4,000 permanent jobs at full build out.
As part of Phase 1, Compass Global Logistics Hub is partnering with the city of Joliet to annex 1,262 acres of property in unincorporated Will County, south of I-80 and east of Route 53. The property is currently undeveloped farmland whose owners have sold the land for the proposed development.
Compass Global Logistics Hub brings a responsible plan, which incorporates responsive design—based on community feedback—that includes a closed-loop network to keep trucks off local roads. This will mitigate and reduce future truck traffic by up to 40 percent because the closed loop will create a direct connection between the intermodals and Compass Global Logistics Hub. As a result, trucks will no longer drive on local expressways to ferry containers to local warehouses for retail distribution and home delivery.
At full buildout, the project would generate $18.7 million in annual local property tax revenue. Compass Global Logistics Hub would also create $32 billion in total economic output during the first 10 years of operations and $5 billion annually after the full buildout, according to a report by the University of Illinois’ Regional Economic Applications Laboratory.
