For the fourth time in fewer than three years, a major development that will create hundreds of jobs has been approved for the ChicagoWest Business Center (CWBC) in DeKalb.
The DeKalb City Council Monday unanimously approved plans for a distribution, packaging and storage facility known as Project Wildcat on 160 acres of property on the north side of Gurler Road between Crego Road and Peace Road.
The project will be built in several phases and Project Wildcat will total more than 2.1-million square feet, creating new community value that can be leveraged to expand services while lowering local property taxes.
An aggressive construction timeline has been set with site work beginning right after Labor Day, adding to the economic development activity happening in the CWBC.
“This project represents another very substantial contribution to the City’s property tax base and employment opportunities,” said City Manager Bill Nicklas “The ChicagoWest and Trammell Crow development team have once again collaboratively negotiated impactful terms which will positively serve the best interests of the DeKalb community for generations to come.”
Project Wildcat is the latest in a rapid series of project announcements in the CWBC, which was founded by the Krusinski Construction Company. Since the Fall of 2019, Ferrara Candy Company opened 1.6 million square feet of distribution space, Amazon has nearly completed 700,000 square feet of distribution and sortation space, and Meta has deepened its commitment to DeKalb, expanding its data center to five buildings and over $1 billion in investment.
“ChicagoWest is proud to have put over a 1,000 acres into development since 2019 in the Chicago West Business Center,” said Jerry Krusinski, CEO of Krusinski Construction Company and one of the principals of the ChicagoWest Business Center.
These economic development successes involve multiple partners to create a business-friendly climate and include the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District, ComEd and Nicor, the State of Illinois for its support of critical infrastructure improvements, and the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone.
For Project Wildcat, the Phase 1 building core and shell is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2024 with the building fully operational by early 2025.
A rendering of Project Wildcat is shown with the welcome sign for the Chicago West Business Center.