Warehouse, storage, distribution facility proposed in Huntley

After a conceptual review last week, Huntley village trustees encouraged the developer of a proposed 175,600-square-foot warehouse, storage and distribution facility on George Bush Court in the Huntley Corporate Park to proceed on to the next Plan Commission meeting.

Rieche Partners LLC, a construction company, proposed the facility in the 240-acre corporate park, west of Route 47 and north of the tollway. LDI Industries, Rohrer Corporation and Cargo Equipment are already built and in operation there, records show.

The proposed warehouse and distribution center would be for AZE Inc., a freight company, which is to have a 40,800-square-foot maintenance facility there directly south of Rohrer. The project is scheduled to be heard by the Plan Commission on Feb. 14, officials said.

Speaking at the Village Board meeting Thursday, village Director of Development Services Charles Nordman said Rieche would build the warehouse facility as an investment property, not necessarily run or occupied by AZE Inc.

“The property itself is zoned BP, which is business park zoning, which does require a special use permit for warehouse storage and distribution,” Nordman said. “It is speculative in nature, so there is no specific business that has been identified for the building at this time. They do anticipate that this building could be divided up into four tenant spaces.”

The proposal has office spaces for up to four tenants, with two driveways accessing the property, one for trucks for the truck court on north side of building, Nordman said. The front of the building where the office space is located would face Interstate 90 and is where employee parking would be located.

There would be parking for 50 semi-trucks and up to 201 automobiles, he said.

The site plan also includes 20 truck docks with space for an additional 20, depending on the future tenant’s needs, according to the plan.

The plan includes 64 shade trees of 10 species, 66 evergreen trees, 274 deciduous shrubs of six species and 95 perennials or ornamental grasses, according to the plan.

Adam Rieche said the facility is speculative but his company is already receiving inquiries about it.

“Huntley right now – in this size building – we really don’t have anything in this area right now in the market place,” Rieche said.

Similar uses are 45,000 to 90,000 square feet or 300,000 to a 1,000,000 square feet, Rieche said.

“This is a niche that is just being left aside,” Rieche said.

“I mean the inquiries already – the brokers have had so many inquiries on this – we’ve had offers already at this stage. They see this and … I don’t think it’s going to be speculative for long,” Rieche said. “I think there’s a need for it. So I think it’s a good concept to start and it’s a good size to start with. It fits perfectly, and this is what the park’s designed for.”

Trustee Harry Leopold asked Rieche about the companies making inquiries and whether they have fairly substantial office staffs that would be going in there.

“Can you give us an idea of how many employees there would be?” Leopold asked.

“It’s all hearsay,” Rieche said. “Nothing set in stone. It’s pretty early in the game.”

Trustee Niko Kanakaris said he liked it.

“I think it’s beautiful. I think we need [it],” Kanakaris said. “Are you keeping this as a rental or are you selling it?”

Rieche said the owners are keeping it.

“It is for AZE next door. That 40,800-square-footer next door? This is the same client,” Rieche said. “They are going to rent this one. … This is a completely different use. This is warehouse distribution.”

If the special use permit is approved, construction would begin March 11, Rieche said.

“The way this economy is right now, it is very difficult. So I am not going to sit here and say that, if I don’t have [these] materials ordered already, I couldn’t even start this project before [20]23,” he said.

Rieche said before the village’s ordinances were changed, this building is what the park was designed for – business park zoning.

“It’s warehouse distribution,” Rieche said. “When is it going to start? It’s going to start summer. Engineering is going. Drawings are being drawn. It’s going to piggyback with the building next door. This is the plan.”

The proposed trucking warehouse facility in the Huntley Corporate Park is not connected in any way to the Amazon project. Venture One is developing Amazon on a site off Freeman Road north of I-90 and east of Route 47, officials said.