CHICAGO—Michelin has entered into a build-to-suit agreement to lease 1.7-million-square-feet of distribution space that Ridge Development will soon begin developing at the RidgePort Logistics Center in Wilmington, IL, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. The developers expect to deliver the project for the tire manufacturer in mid-2015.
Ridge, the industrial arm of Transwestern Development Company, is the developer of RidgePort, a 1,500-acre, rail-served intermodal park with room for 14-million-square-feet of industrial, warehousing and logistics buildings.
“We are excited to break ground on the Michelin project,” says Jim Martell, president of Ridge Development. “As one of the largest U.S. distribution complexes when fully built out, this project should boost RidgePort to one of the most significant logistics parks in the country.”
A joint venture between Ridge Development and a state pension fund advised by Heitman Financial owns the facilities. JLL's Keith Stauber; Dominic Carbonari; Steve Ostrowski and Rich Thompson brokered the lease on its behalf. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. is providing financing for the construction, which Ledcor Group will spearhead as general contractor.
“The Michelin project substantiates RidgePort as a compelling player in the freight movement and logistics sector in Will County,” says John Greuling, president and chief executive officer of the Will County Center for Economic Development. “This project confirms the county as one of the more significant logistics centers in the Midwest as far as attractiveness and transportation options.”
RidgePort sits about three miles south of the I-55 Arsenal Rd. exit that leads to the BNSF Logistics Park-Chicago in Elwood and Union Pacific-Joliet Intermodal Terminal in Joliet. The park would also serve as the western terminus of the proposed Illiana Expressway, a toll road that would connect I-55 and I-65 in northern Illinois and Indiana. Located in the Will County Inland Port region, the largest inland container port in North America, RidgePort provides economic incentive packages to qualified companies, has an Enterprise Zone designation and qualifies for a Foreign Trade Zone designation.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
