Major developments in Kenosha will bring more jobs to the city, which remains a hot spot, especially for warehouse and distribution facilities, along the I-94 corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago.
A 729,600-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility with a truck and trailer parking lot is planned for a site now used as farmland near I-94 and the Kenosha Airport. The $48.3 million project would create up to 480 full-time jobs.
The facility is being proposed on roughly 67.7 acres, located south of 38th Street, west of Canadian Pacific railroad tracks and east of 88th Avenue in the town of Somers. The site is across 88th Avenue from the Kenosha Airport. The two parcels that make up the development site would be annexed by the city of Kenosha and rezoned for industrial uses.
Brian Wilke, Kenosha development coordinator, said the project would be co-developed by Downers Grove, Illinois-based Transport Properties LLC and Riverside, Missouri-based NorthPoint Development. NorthPoint would own and manage the warehouse as a transport logistics facility. The entire building could be leased to one user or divided up for multiple users.
“NorthPoint Development has a significant client portfolio that are looking to expand their operations in the Chicago/Midwest area and will have no difficulties filling lease vacancies in the proposed warehouse,” the developers said in an application with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to fill wetlands at the site.
The project would provide work to 250 construction workers, and once built would create 360 to 480 full-time jobs, according to the application. Those end-use jobs would have an average salary of $38,000.
Meanwhile, a Waukegan, Illinois-based logistics company is moving across the border to a recently constructed industrial building in Kenosha.
Milwaukee-based Zilber Property Group announced it is leasing the 250,000-square-foot building it developed at 5312 104th St. to Trifinity Specialized Distribution, a logistics firm that ships to retailers such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Costco and most drug store chains.
Trifinity will be operational in the facility this month. All of its approximately 50 employees will work in the new building.
Thomas Boyle, senior vice president of Lee and Associates of Illinois LLC, represented Trifinity in lease negotiations.
James Merlo, Trifinity founder and chief executive officer, said in a news release that he tasked Boyle in early 2019 with identifying locations for a new Trifinity facility. After an extensive search, Trifinity chose to relocate to Kenosha after meeting with its mayor, John Antaramian.
“(Antaramian) is a great leader and has created a business-friendly atmosphere in Kenosha where Trifinity can grow,” Merlo said.
The news about the NorthPoint project and Trifinity’s move come shortly after Uline announced in November that it plans to build two new distribution centers along I-94 in Kenosha, a $130 million project that would add 350 jobs.
