In a recent news release, the City of Cottage Grove and NorthPoint Development said they're proud to partner together to help create a positive impact for the community with its newest industrial project.
NorthPoint has plans to break ground on a logistics center in the spring of 2022. It will be built where farm fields are now at 100th Street and Ideal Avenue on the south side of town.
The city's acting mayor, Steve Dennis, called NorthPoint the country's largest commercial landlord.
"Adidas, General Motors, FedEx; there are tons of names of well-known, established companies nationwide that they do business with," said Dennis, who couldn't confirm which companies exactly would operate out of this new center.
The city council recently finalized plans with NorthPoint to build the nearly $3 million project that includes nine buildings and more than three and a half million square feet.
"The reputation that Cottage Grove has garnered is not only a great place to come and do business and to live and now to find more opportunities to work," said Dennis.
The city says it's expected to create 1,870 permanent jobs and bring over $73 million of annual wages to Cottage Grove - a city that's fast-tracking the build with a strategy Dennis calls "shovel ready".
"The lands been cleared, we've got connectivity set up, all the stub-ins for high speed internet, for power for water, for sewer," said Dennis.
Situating giant warehouses in the suburbs isn't new. University of Minnesota Marketing Professor George John says developers first did it some 60 years ago.
But this time around - competition is steep.
"They can only do it if they can match what Amazon puts into their warehouse and distribution centers, so it's elevated everybody's game up," said Professor John. "They have to meet it or they're left behind."
That includes making moves like implementing high-tech automation to hiring top notch computer programmers. But unlike dedication distribution centers, like Amazon, Professor John says general purpose warehouses are more of a mystery.
"It swallows up whatever comes in, sits there for awhile and it gets shipped out and it could be almost anything," said Professor John.
Exactly who could end up in a warehouse down on what's still the farm in Cottage Grove isn't exactly clear yet.
But what officials do know is the project is estimated to generate $1.2 million in the tax base annually they say will help fund community improvements.
If all goes to plan, the logistics center will open in 2023.
About NorthPoint Development
Established in 2012, NorthPoint Development is a privately held real estate development firm that started out specializing in industrial and multi-family development. Since then, NorthPoint Development has grown to a family of ten companies with an emphasis on a factory-to-front door model. Our firm differentiates itself through a strong engineering and technical focus. We employ numerous civil, geotech, electrical, and industrial engineers, as well as logistics, labor, and incentives professionals. NorthPoint Development has developed over 125 million square feet of industrial space and it’s estimated that their developments have created more than 73,000 jobs and supported more than 423 industrial partners across the United States.
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