Foxconn Technology Group plans to select Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. as the general contractor for its $10 billion Mount Pleasant manufacturing campus, according to numerous real estate and construction industry sources.
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“Everyone kind of knows,” said a construction industry source who did not want to be identified.
Gilbane, which has an office in Milwaukee, will serve as the general contractor, working with another international company based in Germany that focuses on clean air, that source said.
Gilbane has led several major construction projects in Wisconsin. The firm worked with Milwaukee-based CG Schmidt as general contractor on the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons project.
In a statement, Foxconn said it is moving forward with all aspects of its Wisconsin campus.
“We will announce developments related to these plans, including the appointment of a general contractor, as soon as the relevant agreements have been confirmed,” the statement said.
Officials from Gilbane directed inquires to Foxconn, state and local officials.
Foxconn plans to build a 22-million-square-foot LCD campus on a nearly 1.2 square-mile area near Highway KR and Highway H, just east of Interstate 94. Plans call for the campus include three buildings topping 1.5 million square feet.
The company hopes to begin construction this spring on the first of the 1.5 million-square-foot buildings. The building is slated to be an assembly facility focused on liquid crystal modules and construction could begin by the beginning of April, according to air permitting documents submitted to the Department of Natural Resources.
The local construction community is now gearing up to bid on subcontracting jobs for the $10 billion project. Estimates say the four-year project could create 10,000 direct construction jobs and $600 million in annual earnings. Another 6,000 to 10,000 jobs could be created at suppliers and companies supporting construction, according to estimates by Ernst and Young and Baker Tilly.
Road and water main work for the project has already gotten underway. The state Department of Transportation is planning $134 million in work on local roads in addition to expanding I-94 in Racine County.
Foxconn put $60 million into an escrow account in December as part of a developer’s agreement with Mount Pleasant and Racine County. The money will go towards the acquisition of more than 2,900 acres of land and the deposit prompted the village to exercise purchase options on 1,400 of those acres. Those deals are expected to close in February.
