Since the start of 2013, Kenosha County’s industrial development activity has been nothing short of amazing. According to the Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA), major projects involving approximately 4,000 jobs, over $800 million of Capital Investment, and roughly 6.5 million square feet of new development or absorption have been announced in the past 20 months.
Todd Battle, President of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, said that industrial development in the area is as strong as it has ever been right now.
“The industrial market is very strong and active in Kenosha County,” he said. “We have had a healthy mix of development which has included a number of manufacturing and distribution projects.”
The City of Kenosha and the Village of Pleasant Prairie have captured the majority of this development activity thus far.
“Those two communities are located along Interstate 94, and are in very close proximity to the Illinois/Wisconsin state line,” Battle said. “So there’s a fair amount of development activity that’s coming into Southeast Wisconsin. I think it’s generally viewed by the community, as well as the state of Wisconsin, as very positive and healthy. There’s a lot of private investment that is generating construction activity and new facilities, more employment opportunities, and an expanded tax base for local units of government.”
According to KABA, Kenosha County’s unemployment rate has been cut in half in the last four years, falling from a peak of 12.9% (Feb. 2010) to 6.1% (May, 2014). The county’s unemployment rate should remain low based on all of the development activity and hiring by expanding companies, like ULINE and Kenall Manufacturing.
ULINE, a privately held, family-owned distributor of packaging and shipping supplies, has made two major announcements regarding plans to develop multiple new facilities at separate sites in Kenosha County. These projects are expected to add about 1,000 jobs to their Kenosha County payroll. The first project will add a 200,000 square foot office building and a 1 million square foot distribution center to their current headquarters campus in Pleasant Prairie. The second involves an additional 1 million square foot facility in Kenosha that will allow for the relocation of their Midwest Distribution operations from Waukegan, IL.
Kenall Manufacturing designs and produces LED lighting systems for a variety of uses. They broke ground in May 2014 on a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kenosha that will serve as the company’s headquarters, R&D center, and primary production facility. The project estimates a $30 million total capital investment, the construction of a 354,000 square foot facility, and total company employment of over 600 within 5 years. Kenall acquired a 34-acre industrial site in the Business Park of Kenosha in December 2013 to accommodate this development.
Battle attributes a strong national economy, Wisconsin’s improving business climate, and a very responsive and aggressive approach to economic development by Kenosha County as factors that are contributing to Southeast Wisconsin’s development success.
“The economy overall is improving,” Battle said. “I think Wisconsin’s competiveness in terms of its business climate is improving, particularly relative to Illinois. The Kenosha Area’s strategic location between the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas has also been a distinct advantage. These have all been factors.”
He continued, “I think our community and economic development partners are very aggressive and responsive and have a focus on economic development. I think we’ve also taken advantage of available, shovel-ready sites, to accommodate projects that had extremely aggressive schedules.”
Amazon is currently constructing a massive customer fulfillment center complex in Kenosha. The project includes two buildings, totaling 1.5 million square feet. The project represents a substantial capital investment and will ultimately result in over 1,000 new jobs once the facilities are fully operational. Amazon should begin to occupy portions of the facilities in the 4th quarter of 2014.
Battle noted that Amazon’s decision to invest in Kenosha is a positive signal and one that brings additional attention to Kenosha given the company’s stature as a Fortune 50 company that is well known and respected.
“We’re certainly excited about it, and we’re thrilled that Amazon has decided to make such a significant investment here. They are certainly a very recognizable brand and company, and they join an extensive list of firms that have also chosen to make major investments in Kenosha County including InSinkerator, Kenall Manufacturing, Meijer, Niagara Bottling, and ULINE.”
As the area has experienced this significant increase in development activity, approximately 1.66 million square feet of net absorption in 2013, the County’s industrial vacancy rate has dropped dramatically from double digits to roughly 4.2%.
“This has created a situation where real estate development firms are again assembling acreage for business park developments and constructing new spec buildings. Bridge Development Partners, Dermody Properties, Majestic Realty, and Venture One Real Estate are developers that have new land sites under control and are evaluating, or moving ahead, with development projects.”
CenterPoint Properties and Zilber Property Group have new industrial buildings under construction in Pleasant Prairie’s LakeView Corporate Park. Centerpoint is constructing two buildings: a 521,000 square foot facility and a 412,000 square foot building. Zilber has a 176,000 SF spec building under construction.
Battle noted, “We are optimistic that this strong run of industrial development has created a fair amount of momentum and there continues to be significant interest and activity regarding Kenosha County developments. We are working to ensure that Kenosha County remains in a great position to compete for, and win, future development projects.”
