CHICAGO-Aeroterm LLC, a longtime preferred developer at O’Hare International Airport, has reached an agreement with the city to build a $192 million new cargo facility there. The new Northeast Cargo Center will go up at the northeast corner of the airport, on a section bounded by Johnson Road, Patton Drive, a runway and an aviation ramp.
Aeroterm will spend $130 million on the project, and the airport will pay $62 million. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement Monday that the project will come at no cost to taxpayers. “This project will vastly increase O’Hare’s cargo operations capacity, create thousands of quality jobs for Chicagoans, and increase Chicago’s competitive position as a global transportation and cargo leader,” he said.
The center will be built in three phases on 65 acres of undeveloped property. The first phase includes construction of a building with cargo and office space and a new taxiway connecting the development with the rest of the airport. Subsequent phases will include construction of additional buildings with cargo and office space. The size of the buildings has not been announced. Aeroterm will lease the property, with the agreement expected to go before City Council in June for approval.
Rosemarie Andolino, a commissioner with the Chicago Department of Aviation, said in the statement that recent airport expansions have attracted more international air freight. “The extensive progress we’ve been able to make on the O’Hare Modernization Program has paved the way for this project to commence, with new, larger runways and taxiways that allow the airport to handle the larger, newest generation of B747-8 cargo planes,” she said. The airport is the number one gateway for Chinese air exports and imports.
Aeroterm has worked with the city on a few developments at O’Hare. The company owns and manages almost two million square feet of on-airport cargo facilities at O’Hare. Erin Gruver, Aeroterm’s VP for development, did not return a call for comment.
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