Princeton officially approves sale of land for $68 million distribution center

After Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced Friday that Ollie’s Bargain Outlet will build a new $68 million distribution center, Princeton Council gave the project the final go-ahead during Monday’s meeting.

The 600,000-square-foot distribution center is estimated to create over 250 new and full-time jobs for local and new residents to the area. The building is also expected to grow by another 180,000-square-feet within two or three years of the buildings initial completion.

Princeton council unanimously approved the sale of over 135 acres of land at a price of $10,000 per acre. This purchase will include the entirety of Princeton’s Commercial District.

“Over the years, I was assured that projects are working their way down the I-80 corridor and that we will get our time,” City Clerk Peter Nelson said. “Here we are. It is patience and preparedness is what really got us here.”

The city will return a total of $1,350,000 for the sale of the property. Mayor Joel Quiram stated that these funds will be used toward economic development for the city.

“That money will be put to use also in economic development projects because it is an economic development project that we are receiving the money from,” Quiram said. “That said we have a lot of things working in the city, that obviously we can’t talk about, but this all goes towards economic development.”

Quiram thanked city officials including Nelson, City Manager Theresa Wittenauer and all city department heads in their cooperation and willingness to help during the negotiation process.

Negotiations for this project took place over the course of six months as Ollie’s Bargain Outlet was weighing their options.

“I can’t say enough about the cohesiveness and the chemistry that we built with Ollie’s and their construction company, Lee and Associates,” Quiram said. “This is a $70 million project and we completed it in six months time. Which is really a short period of time for such a project.”

Council Member Jerry Neumann added that there were two other cities, one in Iowa and one in Indiana, that were being considered by Ollie’s for this project. Neumann was excited for this project and the new opportunities it looks to bring to Princeton.

“That property has been on our books for 14 years and I’m very glad to see that it finally got sold,” Neumann said. “The previous administration bought it in 2008 and we are finally going to put something on it, which is good news.”

Council members Hector Gomez, Michael McCall and Martin Makransky, who wasn’t able to be in attendance, all voiced or sent in their messages of support. The council stated that they believe the city’s infrastructure and preparedness is what helped the company choose to come to Princeton.

“This site out here was shovel ready and the city owned it,” Quiram said. “All of the utilities are right there. They didn’t have to tinker around with utilities that was a huge plus.”

The facility is expected to build along Interstate 80 on land adjacent to the Super 8 and plans to be completed in 2024.