November 13, 2024
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Amazon center creating development buzz for Huntley

‘Since the Amazon announcement, we’ve seen a significant uptick in interest from developers,’ village manager says

By Madhu Krishnamurthy - Daily Herald Media Group
The property at 41W368 Freeman Road, formerly Stade Farm, is seen on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 in Huntley.

The property at 41W368 Freeman Road, formerly Stade Farm, is seen on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Huntley. Amazon plans to open the 630,000-square-foot receiving center there by the third quarter of 2022.

Construction of a new Amazon warehouse and offices in Huntley is generating significant buzz, with developers eyeing the village’s prominent industrial corridor for potential growth, officials said.

Amazon plans to open the 630,000-square-foot receiving center by the third quarter of 2022. It is under construction on 152 acres off Freeman Road, north of Interstate 90 and east of Route 47. The center will receive large orders of inventory and redistribute products to Amazon fulfillment centers.

The project will create more than 1,000 full-time jobs at the center and could generate roughly $800,000 in property tax revenues.

Amazon employs more than 35,000 people throughout Illinois. Its investment in the Huntley center is about $100 million.

A digital mock-up shows what the distribution site proposed in the Venture One development would look like from the perspective of residential neighbors to the southeast of the property. A group of residents from the Prairie Oaks subdivision abutting the property worked with Venture One and the village of Huntley to make sure their concerns were heard before the Village Board votes to approve the development on March 11.

A digital mock-up shows what the distribution site proposed in the Venture One development would look like from the perspective of residential neighbors to the southeast of the property. (Screenshot)

“A project of this magnitude will be a catalyst for future growth and will assist in the village’s ongoing efforts to attract and promote [development],” Mayor Charles Sass said in a news release.

The Amazon center is part of a 261-acre site – formerly known as the Stade Farm across from the former Huntley outlet center – annexed by the village. Amazon will lease the property from Venture One Acquisitions, which plans to develop the remaining 109 acres at a later date.

“Since the Amazon announcement, we’ve seen a significant uptick in interest from developers,” Village Manager Dave Johnson said. “There’s hundreds of acres north and south of the interstate that are still undeveloped.”

That area is zoned for offices, commercial, research and light industrial manufacturing uses.

Another project in the works is a business park proposed for the 60-acre former outlet mall site north of Interstate 90. The 320,000-square-foot outlet mall was torn down in April 2018 after it closed because of declining occupancy.

Huntley Investment Partners plans to develop a 717,400-square-foot industrial building there. Construction of the first phase of the industrial project is expected to begin this summer.

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