EPICENTER

Plans for Two More Intermodals Have All Eyes on Will County

January 12, 2008

By CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN Staff Writer

The Herald News

ROMEOVILLE -- Do you ever wonder why Will County has become a global rail hub?

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Logistics Park at CenterPoint in Elwood.
(Steven Buyansky/Staff photographer)

"We've got this big thing called Lake Michigan," explained Michael Mullen, CEO of CenterPoint Properties.

The existence of Lake Michigan has forced railroad lines to skirt Chicago and funnel south through the Will County region, Mullen said Thursday.

"This is the epicenter in the nation for rail traffic," Mullen said.

He made his remarks at Thursday's Will County Center for Economic Development's annual Real Estate Forecast Luncheon, held at Lewis University.

Lake Michigan is the reason Will County is second only to the Los Angeles area in terms of industrial growth, he said.

CenterPoint wants to take advantage of Will County's geography by building two more intermodals, Mullen said. One would be in Crete, the other south of Joliet.

An intermodal is a facility where cargo containers are transferred from rail to truck for regional distribution or truck to rail for long distance shipping.

The 2,200-acre CenterPoint Intermodal Center, which opened in Elwood five years ago, is home to the extremely successful BNSF Logistics Park-Chicago. Now CenterPoint controls 3,858 acres of land south of Joliet that it wants for CenterPoint Intermodal North.

The site is surrounded by industry and the Autobahn Country Club, Mullen said. The new intermodal would provide hundreds of jobs, grow the area's tax base and take trucks off the roads.

Map of the proposed CenterPoint Intermodal Center North.
Photo map courtesy of the Will County Center for Economic Development

The land CenterPoint has amassed is "an incredibly tricky site to develop," Mullen said. About 28 percent of the land is unusable because water and power and gas lines run through it, he explained.

The city of Joliet is not very enthusiastic about the proposal, however.

"I don't think it (Mullen's speech) changes any of our opinions," said Jim Haller, the city's director of community and economic development, who attended the CED luncheon. "It's going to take a lot of sitting down and deliberating."

City officials have major concerns about the proposed intermodal's impact on traffic and the low property taxes generated by a rail yard.

Autobahn President Mark Basso was more open to the intermodal project.

"It can work if we have proper screening," he said. "We'd want to work with them to make sure our development is protected from their development. I think that can be accomplished."

Mullen said his company would be investing $3.5 billion in the county if the two new intermodals go through: $1 billion in Elwood, $1.5 billion in Crete and $2 billion south of Joliet.

Other states are vying for the company's investment, saying, "Pick us," he warned. But Mullen said CenterPoint would like to stay in Will County along the Interstate 80 corridor.

"We believe Will County is at the crossroads of trade."

Reporter Cindy Wojdyla Cain may be reached at (815) 729-6044 or at ccain@scn1.com