Dallas-based real estate investment and development company
Crow Holdings has increased the size of the air cargo facility it plans to build a
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
The company
first unveiled plans for the facility in February of 2023.
Today, Crow Holdings announced that it has increased the size of the planned facility by 50,000 square feet. The now 337,000-square-foot facility, to be called the
South Cargo Logistics Hub, would 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 2010, when the base was closed and the property was deeded back to Milwaukee County.
Crow Holdings said it has made additional enhancements to the scope of the South Cargo Logistics Hub project, a public-private partnership that will cost $75 million. The company said most of the funds will come from private sources.
The project now also includes a new garage for the Milwaukee County Highway Department, and improvements to 16 acres of public taxiway area adjacent to the project site.
“This added work will allow for modern wide-body cargo traffic to operate in this part of the airport on a consistent basis for the first time,” Crow Holdings said in news release.
The increased size of the project will allow for the simultaneous parking of up to five Boeing 777-8F, or equivalent sized aircraft, with a multi-use apron to handle added smaller plane capacity. These additions could potentially more than quadruple the airport's current cargo capacity, the company says.
The air cargo facility will have the flexibility to accommodate a variety of end users including pharma, cold-storage, Class-1 cargo, and livestock, the company said.
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport handled 129.7 million pounds of air freight in 2023, which was down 16.2% from 154.9 pounds of air freight in 2022. Through August of this year air freight handled through the airport is down 2% from last year for the same time period.
Pending final approval of the plans, construction of the South Cargo Logistics Hub is expected to begin during the winter and be complete in early 2026.
“After two years of intensive efforts, and over $1.2 million in diligence dollars spent, we are incredibly excited to reach this milestone with the airport and the county. This project is a true testament of what can be achieved when public and private forces align,” said
Jack Rabenn, vice president at Crow Holdings. “We believe that this project will not only be an economic catalyst for Milwaukee, but also for the entire southeastern Wisconsin region and the broader state, which is further validated by the endorsements this project has garnered from a wide variety of stakeholder entities.”
CBRE’s
Scott Furmanski,
David Prell and
Ted Gates will market the air cargo facility on behalf of Crow Holdings, which says the facility will serve as an option for cargo tenants looking to avoid higher congestion and costs associated with centering operations out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
“The MKE Airport has a population of nearly 13 million people within a two-hour drive time in southeast Wisconsin and Chicagoland. The existing infrastructure within MKE will allow tenants to use the same carrier, cargo, handler, and freight forwarders that they would in O’Hare, all while serving the same end users,” Crow Holdings said in a news release.
“These sizeable enhancements and progress with the project make it that much more appealing to a variety of potential tenants,” said Furmanski. “With ample power availability in the area and modern warehouse design, the South Cargo Logistics Hub will allow for a great number of potential uses including seamless handling of cold storage items, pharmaceuticals, food, and plant products.”
[caption id="attachment_598031" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
Site plan for the South Cargo Logistics Hub planned at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.[/caption]
