In the wave of warehouse projects coming to the metro area, there’s a new leader – the 3.5 million square foot project in Cottage Grove.
The proposed Cottage Grove Logistics Center will occupy an area equivalent to 73 football fields – enough to house most of the landfall city. It will consist of nine buildings on a 252-acre plot south of 100th Street near Ideal Avenue.
Kansas City, Mo. K’s Northpoint Development proposal has been approved by the Cottage Grove Planning Department, and the city council is due to vote on it on December 15.
According to city administrator Jennifer Levitt, the developer is asking the city to create a tax increase financing district to reduce its cost by $8.3 million.
The new plan for the Logistics Center plan replaces an earlier version, which called for a 2.4 million square foot development.
The logistics center is expected to create 1,870 jobs. Northpoint is expected to break ground on the site next spring, and parts of the project are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Levitt said Northpoint plans to lease the buildings to various businesses.
“There will be one landlord and many tenants,” she said.
The project would mean massive improvements to many roads. Levitt expects a new street – 105th Street – to be constructed along with other new streets, roundabouts and improvements to existing streets.
He said the project would be around $265 million including the cost of the land. According to the site plan, the maximum height of the buildings will be 51 feet.
In terms of square footage, the center will tower over other well-publicized mega-projects — triple the size of the 855,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, for example.
The project is the largest in a wave of trucking and warehousing projects recently launched in the metro area.
Others include:
- The proposed one-million-square-foot center on 77 acres at Lake Elmo.
- In Oakdale, the 4Front Technology and Office campus consists of a 310,000-square-foot center, consisting of one or two buildings.
- An Amazon Center, approved by the City of Woodbury, covers 517,000 square feet.
- 475,000 square foot Inverpoint project in Inver Grove Heights.
Levitt said the demand for trucking and warehousing facilities is driven by online shopping, which requires the trucks to be purchased.
“The Midwest has been somewhat of a void for these,” she said.
Levitt said the huge new project is another victory for the city’s business park.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into making sure these projects are shovel-ready,” Levitt said. “It shows that we are open to business, and that makes us very successful.”
As if to prove that point, it announced another large-scale project in Business Park—a 19-acre, 332,000-square-foot addition by Renovations by Anderson.
