CED surpasses target
• Five-year outlook: Tollway extension expected to change economic landscape

By Bob Okon
staff writer

STEVEN BUYANSKY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER John Grueling, president and chief executive of the Will County Center for Economic Development, explains how many containers are handled in the Chicago area as compared to the rest of the world during a presentation Wednesday at the CED's breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Joliet.

JOLIET — The Will County Center for Economic Development hit and surpassed its "ambitious" target of raising $7.5 million.

The investment campaign to fund Will County's main economic development agency raised $7.6 million, Randy Chapman, who headed the effort, announced to a gathering of CED members Tuesday.

The meeting also included an economic development outlook into a future that could feature a lifestyle mall in Joliet, more distribution companies moving into the area and a complete transformation of the commercial landscape with the construction of the Interstate 355 tollway extension.

"In the next five years, Will County will have exponentially more opportunity for growth and development," said Chapman, who also is publisher of The Herald News. "We will work harder for more and better-paying jobs."

The $7.5 million target was an ambitious one, Chapman said, because it was a 50 percent increase from the last five-year investment campaign at the CED. The money is used to fund the not-for-profit agency's development efforts for five years.

The number of companies and local governments that are investors in the CED now numbers 261, Chapman said, and the $7.5 million target was surpassed just recently with an investment from the village of Bolingbrook.

The meeting included an economic outlook from CED chief executive John Greuling on future development in Will County and from Joliet City Manager John Mezera on economic projects in the city.

Greuling noted that in the last five years Will County added 140,000 people, which equaled 51 percent of the entire population growth of the Chicago metropolitan area.

More change can be expected in the next five years, he said, especially with the completion of the Interstate 355 tollway extension that will run from Bolingbrook to New Lenox.

"It will change the face of Will County," Greuling said, pointing to large tracts of undeveloped land along the tollway route. "That corridor is virtually untouched at this time."

Greuling said the I-355 extension is one of three major stimuli to the county's economy in the next five years. The others are continued industrial development at the former Joliet Arsenal and the push for creation of a major airport in Peotone.

But pointing to one spot along the future I-355 extension, Greuling posed the hypothetical question, "Can't you just see a Nordstrom's here?" as he suggested the change that could occur with development of the corridor.

Mezera also suggested retail possibilities in Joliet at a 400-acre site where the city hopes to see an interchange built.

The city for months has been working on a full interchange for Interstate 55 and Illinois 59.

Mezera had no definite announcement on plans for the site, but property owners in the area have said they've heard about plans for a mall and office development.

Mezera on Tuesday said the site "could be a very nice lifestyle type mall that could have some of the features of Oakbrook in it."

Meanwhile, one upscale shopping center is under development now at Illinois 59 and Theodore Road.

Mezera said the 38-acre development will include upscale stores, restaurants, covered walkways, and a second level with offices.

05/18/06