Along the I-39 Logistics Corridor there is over 89 million square feet of property. While the corridor currently has over 878,029 of square feet under construction, according to Carrie Zethmayr, executive director, of the I-39 Logistics Corridor Association, the association is seeing an increase in the amount of development coming to the corridor.
“We’re seeing more warehouse distribution, as well as manufacturing,” said Zethmayr. “Specifically in the Rockford area we have some developments in hydraulics. The hydraulic industry is an automotive component part of suppliers that provide services in transportation equipment and manufacturing sectors.”
Zethmayr pointed out that over the last few months, transportation equipment and manufacturing has grown throughout the entire United States—which has been particularly beneficial to the Rockford market.
“It’s been beneficial not only because of our concentration of those industries, but to the whole I-39 Logistics Corridor as well. That’s not only for domestic production, but also in increase in the amount of export from the region, because of the global growth of that industry.”
As far as the corridor’s industrial and business parks, Zethmayr said they have an increased focus in revamping the infrastructure of their green field sites.
“One particular initiative that we’re working on is the Qualified Sites program. Step one is to really understand the current infrastructure available at the different green field sites, and be able to better quantify, analyze, and then market that existing infrastructure.”
A key focus while marketing those industrial parks, noted Zethmayr, is to better align and understand the current state of them. “So with step one, we’re looking forward to watching, in the future, more growth around our industrial parks.”
For the past three years, the corridor has had many major successes, with over 147 projects announced during that time. A notable success for this year is All World Machinery Supply, Inc.—a leading supplier and manufacturer of hydraulic equipment and machine tool parts—locating its global headquarters and manufacturing facility to new, larger quarters in Roscoe, Illinois.
“They just broke ground on a 40,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility,” Zethmayr said. “FedEx as well is developing a ground transportation distribution center in Cherry Valley, Illinois. That’s a major expansion that’s happening, and it’ll attribute significantly to the distribution cluster of the region.”
According to Venture One Real Estate, FedEx will build an 186,000 square foot facility in the Rock 39 industrial Park, located at I-39 and Baxter Road. The project will cost up to $20 million to develop, and create about 150 jobs, according to MyStateline.com.
