Massive Warehouses Planned for Romeoville

Romeoville will soon be home to two massive new warehouse developments that could bring corporations and, more importantly, jobs to the village.

“This is an enormous opportunity for the area,” Mayor John Noak said Wednesday, citing Pizzuti Cos.’ plans to build a speculative warehouse that will span the length of 14 football fields. Another developer, Ryan Cos., is looking to build a 600,000-square-foot facility in Romeoville.

The developments mark an economic turnaround of sorts, as the recession has made new spec projects few and far between, according to Noak.

“It has been unheard of in this economy for the last several years,” he said, adding the Pizzuti and Ryan projects represent an investment of “tens of millions of dollars” in Romeoville. “You just don’t see this in too many areas … nobody was talking about spec just a few months ago.”

Even without any tenants slated to occupy the facilities, the companies’ willingness to build is a sign that corporations see potential in the village, according to the mayor.

“It’s a really important sign for the economy going forward because these are large corporations making a big investment in spec buildings,” Noak said.

The new projects, among the largest planned spec developments in Chicagoland, according to Crain's Chicago Business, are also a sign that industrial vacancies are down and space has become scarce.

“I think a lot of people look at these [industrial] buildings and think they’re unoccupied, and they’re not,” Noak said.

“If you're looking for 60,000 to 100,000 feet, there are a lot of options, but if you're looking for 300,000 or more, there aren't,” Tim Hennelly, Great Lakes region president at Ryan Cos., told Crain's.

The large warehouses could also translate to hundreds of jobs.

“There’s jobs right off the bat just off the construction,” the mayor said. “These are really important developments, figuratively and literally.”

The Ryan Cos. project is slated to be built on a large parcel at Crossroads Parkway and Normantown Road, while Pizzuti has several options for its massive new warehouse.

The Ohio-based developer owns acreage stretching in several directions from Southcreek Parkway and Taylor Road all the way to Weber Road.

“They have several sites that are pre-platted, so they have lots of room,” Noak said.

The new spec warehouse isn’t the only recent development for Pizzuti, either. This summer, a moved into a 650,000-square-foot facility owned by the developer.

“And there’s still lots [of sites] that haven’t been built on yet,” Noak said of Pizzuti’s Romeoville property.

It’s unclear how quickly the new projects could break ground.

“We expect to see the plans in the next few weeks or months,” Noak said.