October 04, 2024
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NorthPoint lawsuit: CenterPoint wants Joliet monopoly

Lawsuit attempts to reverse past agreements set for Houbolt Road bridge

By Bob Okon
An aerial view of distribution centers for the NorthPoint group near the intersection of Noel Road and Illinois Route 53 on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 in Elwood. NorthPoint is developing the Third Coast Intermodal Hub, a warehouse development of more than 2,000 acres stretching from Joliet to Elwood.

An aerial photo shows NorthPoinht Development onstruction in Joliet as of January. (Scott Anderson)

NorthPoint Development this week filed a federal lawsuit claiming it has been been the victim of a rival developer’s attempt to monopolize the warehouse market around the Joliet and Elwood intermodal yards.

The NorthPoint lawsuit follows a Will County judge’s order in March that blocks it from using Millsdale Road to connect more than 3 million square feet of warehouse space it has developed to the intermodal yards.

The Will County order has effectively stopped development of the massive NorthPoint project that involves potentially 25 million square feet of warehouse space.

NorthPoint CEO Nathaniel Hagedorn in an interview on Thursday said his company’s lawsuit is aimed at breaking a stranglehold that rival developer CenterPoint Properties has over warehouse development around the intermodal yards.

“They’re attempting to keep a monopoly,” Hagedorn said. “Thay already have it.”

A building wall is constructed at the site of the new NorthPoint Compass Business Park along Route 53.

NorthPoint began building warehouses in Joliet in 2022. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing fight that includes land developers and area residents over the future of trucking travel and warehouse development in the Joliet area around the intermodal yards.

NorthPoint has recently sought access to Route 53, a controversial move that Hagedorn said was forced when CenterPoint blocked it from using Millsdale Road.

“This is not what we want. This is not what our tenants want,” Hagedorn said.

Access to Route 53 is a controversial matter because of concerns about the volume of truck traffic, and NorthPoint opponents have come out against it.

“Which is exactly what CenterPoint wanted,” Hagedorn said, contending that CenterPoint is maneuvering to keep NorthPoint from moving ahead with plans to develop a rival industrial park.

CenterPoint Intermodal Center complex in Joliet. Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 in Joliet.

The CenterPoint Intermodal Center includes intermodal yards in Joliet and Elwood. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

A CenterPoint spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.

NorthPoint has developed three warehouse buildings, including one for Target stores and another that would supply batteries to the Lion Electric bus and truck factory in Joliet. Those warehouses relied on Millsdale Road, not Router 53, to go through the CenterPoint Intermodal Center on the way to Interstates 80 and 55.

In its lawsuit, NorthPoint contends that the Will County court order blocks its warehouses from using Millsdale Road while tenants brought in by CenterPoint continue to use the road.

The lawsuit also alleges that an agreement bertween CenterPoint and the city of Joliet that set terms for the the construction of the Houbolt Road bridge over the Des Plaines River violates antitrust laws by effectively barring NorthPoint and other developers from building warehouses.

The lawsuit asks the federal courts to revoke the Houbolt Road bridge agreement.

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