Warehouse larger than Amazon facility set to go on south side of Huntley

The company developing the Amazon warehouse in Huntley is set to build an even larger facility on the south end of town after the Village Board gave the go-ahead at its meeting Thursday.

The building, once completed, will sit close to the town’s Sun City neighborhood, with houses located just to the north. As a result, a few residents have raised concerns about pollution, noise and lighting coming from the facility.

Conrad Barta, a resident near the development, said at the meeting Thursday that current construction going on in the area is already proving to be a problem with noise.

“I understand the need for this building, which makes sense, but the consideration of the residents that live [close by] should be considered,” he said.

Several trustees said they felt the developers had done a lot to help mitigate potential problems.

“I think you’ve done a very nice job meeting concerns of residents and our board,” Village President Timothy Hoeft said.

Rosemont-based Venture One Real Estate will construct a nearly 730,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Route 47 and Jim Dhamer Drive. If built as proposed, it will be nearly 100,000 square feet larger than the Amazon warehouse on the other side of Route 47, which is about 630,000 square feet.

The Amazon warehouse also is being built by Venture One.

Two tenants could eventually occupy the new building, but no users have been found yet, according to village documents.

The proposal for the project originally came to the board in November, with trustees requesting a variety of changes, including a sound wall, a fence and shrubbery. All of these changes have been made to the project, according to village material.

“It’s evident you’ve listened to what everybody has said,” Trustee Mary Holzkopf said Thursday. “You’ve done everything you can to minimize any negative impact this project could have for residents.”

After the concept review, the project then moved onto the Plan Commission, where it was reviewed May 23. Further tweaks were made to address concerns brought up by residents at the meeting.

Resident Dick Tabatt said he felt many of the changes benefited residents, but he was still concerned about who might occupy the space and what kind of oversight may be in place.

“We thank you all for having been so diligent in trying to help us solve the problems, but now it’s time to see that they actually get enforced,” Tabatt said.

Along with pollution, traffic and noise, lighting has also been a topic of interest throughout the approval process. The latest plan calls for LED lights for the truck areas, which will have shields to reduce the amount of light spilling into the neighborhood.

Fencing and trees are planned to help block off the site from the neighborhood. Hoeft pitched working with the future tenants to help reduce noise.

As part of the development, Venture One will contribute $200,000 toward improvements for Dhamer Drive, Director of Development Charles Nordman said during the meeting.

“We’re very excited about this project,” project representative Ryan Stoller said. “I think we’ve added some really good improvements … that will not only be beneficial to the project, but to the community.”