The facility will be constructed on a nearly 35.9-acre parcel. Both the facility and the land will be owned by Bissell, says Richard Plonsker, executive vice president and managing director for Biswanger's Midwest operations. Representatives from Bissell were not available for comment. The project is similar to Ikea's reported $111 million plans to build a 650,000-sf distribution center in nearby Joliet.

Binswanger, headquartered in Philadelphia, negotiated the deal for Bissell. Bissell's current Midwest distribution center is in Joliet, IL where the company is leasing approximately 250,000 sf, Plonsker says. Bissell was unable to expand at its current location and is doubling its size due to the "growth of their business," he says. Binswanger looked at sites in three states before choosing the site in Elwood. "They looked at a multiple of states," Plonsker said, but would not disclose the other areas that were considered for the new center. "We did an extensive evaluation of the marketplace and talked to a significant number of major national developers for this project," he says. Biswanger "selected CenterPoint Properties because of their proven expertise, the location of the site and the proximity to the intermodal center," Plonsker added.

Construction has started on the pad with the facility expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, Murphy says. The site has "the benefit of being very close to the Burlington Northern intermodal facility," he says. Bissell brings a lot of containers through the intermodal. "Their ability to pick those up quickly and, then, cost-effectively get them to their building, I am sure was a big driver" in Bissell's decision, Murphy says. The park is also near Interstate 55, with access to Interstate 80.