Transportation & Logistics

Construction begins on new Mitchell International air cargo facility

By Hunter Turpin

Feb 27, 2025 6:04 pm

Milwaukee Airport_SV final[13] resized — Rendering of the South Cargo Logistics Hub planned at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

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Crow Holdings Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport Brian Dranzik Dale Kooyenga Matt Kurucz

Construction is beginning on a new, large terminal for freight aircraft at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in an attempt to poach some traffic from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the dominant cargo hub in the region. Dallas-based real estate investment and development company Crow Holdings and Mitchell International kicked off construction Thursday with a groundbreaking ceremony, three years

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Construction is beginning on a new, large terminal for freight aircraft at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in an attempt to poach some traffic from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the dominant cargo hub in the region. Dallas-based real estate investment and development company Crow Holdings and Mitchell International kicked off construction Thursday with a groundbreaking ceremony, three years after plans were drafted. "This has been three hard, long years of uncovering just about every stone that you can imagine on this site to get to where we're at now," said Matt Kurucz, managing director of Crow Holdings' industrial group. "People have been skeptical throughout the entire last three years, but we're here." The 337,000-square-foot facility, to be called the South Cargo Logistics Hub, will be built at the former 440^th Airlift Wing site. The 41-acre site, located at 300 E. Collage Ave. in Milwaukee, northeast of Howell and College avenues on the southern end of the airport, was used by the 440^th Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve from the mid-1950s until 2008, when the base was closed and the property was deeded back to Milwaukee County, leaving more than 100 vacant buildings, officials said, some of which are now used by the airport while others have been leased to short-term tenants. With capacity for up to five Boeing 747-400 planes simultaneously — which each could remove up to 22,000 trailers from Wisconsin roads yearly — the facility is expected to generate more than $1.3 million in landing fees and more than $1 million in ground lease rents and fees each year, according to airport officials.

Crow Holdings and Mitchell International are betting that congestion and higher costs at Illinois airports will encourage companies to ship goods out of Milwaukee. "The issues and challenges that the shipping community has faced with our neighbors to the south have been well documented, and it's our belief that this Milwaukee-based cargo facility will greatly benefit the region with a more cost efficient and expedient solution," said airport director Brian Dranzik. Leasing of the completed building is being handled by commercial real estate firm CBRE, with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley saying some of the state's larger shippers like GE Healthcare, Rockwell Automation and Mercury Marine are targets for the space. A new garage for the Milwaukee County Highway Department, and improvements to 16 acres of public taxiway area adjacent to the project site, are also planned as part of this project. "Milwaukee is the third highest per capita manufacturer in the country. We make things," said Dale Kooyenga, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. "And what are things? Things are ideas. At some point someone said, 'I have an idea. I have an idea for a thing that makes someone healthier, or that brings someone more pleasure, or that makes things easier.' So, what is this facility? It's not a cargo facility. What it is is an idea facilitator of taking ideas and allowing those ideas to spread around the world." Demolition of existing structures will need to be completed before construction work on the new structure can begin and the project is expected to be completed in 2026.