[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...1a186739819.txt

Kingsbury new site of logistics hub

Bob Wellinski/For The News-Dispatch Railroad tracks running through the Kingsbury Industrial Park.
Construction on $50M site may begin in July
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, May 22, 2010 4:12 AM CDT
KINGSBURY — A transportation company has committed to building a $50 million warehouse and distribution center at Kingsbury Industrial Park in southern La Porte County, a company official said Friday. It could be in operation by summer 2011.

“We believe in the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy,” said Debbie McDowell, director of ICS Logistics, in a Friday morning presentation at Blue Chip Casino. “We are confident this will bring more commerce to the area and open up markets between the southeast and the Midwest.”

In coordination with this project, which will be called ICS X-Press, CSX Transportation pledged $3 million to extend its rail line to the warehouse, which will allow it to load and unload freight. The facility will include 30 semi-truck loading docks and enough parking for 500 trailers, McDowell said.

“It will have the capacity many large distribution centers have,” she said.

ICS Logistics is a supply chain solutions company based in Jacksonville, Florida, that provides transportation, warehousing and maritime services to national and international customers. It serves clients in a variety of industries, including food manufacturing, retail grocery, forestry, steel and metal industries. ICS is a major supplier for Walmart and Target stores.

In September, the La Porte County Council pledged up to $6 million in improvements for the warehouse, which will be able to store perishable foods and dry goods at various temperatures from hot to freezing. That money will be combined with $3 million from the state, county Economic Development Coordinator Matt Reardon said in September.

Officials previously said the new facility would create an expected 135 new full-time positions at Kingsbury, as well as nearly 500 transportation-related jobs. Construction would require about another 500 jobs.

Reardon said the 135 new full-time positions would be paid between $35,000 and $43,000 annually.

The first route that will be established from the ICS X-Press facility will be a CSX unit train from Kingsbury to Jacksonville, McDowell said. The southeast is the fastest growing market in the United States, she said, followed by the Chicago area, so a partnership will only help spur growth even faster.

“It’s an alliance that will improve point-to-point distribution networks and reduce costs,” she said. “It’s geared at smaller companies with a net worth of $1 million or less, so we can get your products to other markets in a short period of time.”

The unit train will run once a week to start, McDowell said, and product will be able to be loaded, shipped by temperature-controlled box car and available for distribution within three days guaranteed.

She expects meat and dairy products from this area would be the biggest export to the southeast, with imports of paper and wood products, along with frozen foods and fruits, to the Midwest.

Ground will be broken as soon as ICS has enough customers, which may be as soon as July, McDowell said. The project will take a year to complete.

“A lot of people have been working on this project over the years to facilitate the development of a logistics center that will bring jobs and business to the county,” said Tim Gropp, co-executive director of the La Porte County Economic Development Corp. “It’s exciting to finally get to this point.”

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...9d868236631.txt

Officials: $50M center likely no-go

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 5:07 PM CST
KINGSBURY — A $50 million warehouse and distribution center planned for the Kingsbury Industrial Park in southern La Porte County may not come to fruition, county officials said Monday.

John Regetz, Michigan City Economic Development Corp. executive director, said negotiations with ICS Logistics of Jacksonville, Fla., were ongoing for about a year. The company announced its commitment to Kingsbury in May, but has apparently bowed out.

“They pulled back to reconsider their options,” Regetz said. “We continue to try to attract businesses to the Kingsbury Industrial Park. A logistics investment is a big project that we want to keep pursuing.”

Commissioner Barb Huston said ICS Logistics sent a letter in the fall to county officials letting them know they were still interested in the site, but that they didn’t have enough funding.

“It is a lot of money to invest,” she said.

This also means other investments will not be made. The state and county pledged to provide $9 million in support to the project, and CSX Transportation pledged $3 million to extend its rail line to the warehouse, which would have allowed it to load and unload freight.

ICS Logistics officials did not return calls for comment Monday.

Officials previously said the new facility would create 135 new full-time positions at Kingsbury, as well as nearly 500 transportation-related jobs.

ICS Logistics is a supply chain solutions company based in Jacksonville that provides transportation, warehousing and maritime services to national and international customers. It serves clients in a variety of industries, including food manufacturing, retail grocery, forestry, steel and metal industries. It is a major supplier for Walmart and Target stores.

[Ang]

http://www.heraldargus.com/articles/2011/0...b1486394805.txt

‘It just makes sense’

Members of county council push for rail improvements
By Alicia Ebaugh
Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 5:07 PM CST
Staff writer


KINGSBURY — La Porte County must move forward with $9 million in rail improvements at the Kingsbury Industrial Park for an intermodal facility to come to fruition, developers and state officials said.

On Monday, County Council members began the push for county officials to approve a $6 million “performance mortgage” to replace more than a mile of track leading to the site. That, with $3 million CSX Transportation has pledged to create a rail interchange for its trains to access the site, will make the industrial park more attractive to potential customers, said Christopher McGrath, a partner with Providence Logistics, the park’s developer.

For instance, ICS Logistics, a supply chain solutions company based in Jacksonville, Fla., won’t place a $50 million refrigerated warehouse and distribution center at the site until the improvements are in place, he said.

“If you elevate the park’s connectivity from local, as it is now, its identity gains regional and national significance,” McGrath said. “These improvements are required for our customers. We have others seriously looking at the site, too, but they need to have improved connectivity.”

With everything in place, Kingsbury Industrial Park would become the only site statewide with the ability to quickly import produce from as far away as Central America, as well as export Indiana beef and dairy products, Sam Krouse, international trade program manager with the Indiana Department of Agriculture, told county officials Monday.

“It just makes sense for people to be able to move their products to market up to seven days faster. The return trip carrying products from Indiana is what they’re arranging to make it profitable for us, too,” said County Commission President Ken Layton. Jeff Wagoner, manager of regional development for CSX, said the railroad has found lots of interest in central Mexico for premium beef and pork products, as they don’t have regular access to them now.

The improvements were part of the plan when ICS Logistics, which provides transportation, warehousing and maritime services to national and international customers, first announced its commitment to build at Kingsbury in May. Right now, only South Shore Freight serves the industrial park.

ICS pulled back to re-examine its options last fall for several reasons, including cost, Layton said, but the project was simply dormant.

“I don’t think it ever completely died like some people thought,” he said. “ICS is still very, very interested in working with people in Indiana.”

Because of its proximity to Chicago, Kingsbury Industrial Park has been an attractive site option for a supply chain between the southeast and the Midwest, said Debbie McDowell, ICS director of sales and marketing.

“ICS Logistics has been committed to the development of our multimodal unit train service,” she said. “With our partner, CSX, we have been steadfast in the development of our strategic plan to offer a new innovative supply chain solution to both regions.”

The $6 million performance mortgage would essentially be a lien against 203 acres of land along Stillwell Road leading north to the industrial park from the CSX rail line, said Tim Gropp, executive director of the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation. The land is owned by Halfwassen Group LLC based in Milwaukee, Wis. They will be responsible for constructing the rail line into the park and making any improvements required by federal and state law, said group president Brent Halfwassen.

“The county isn’t writing anyone a check,” Gropp said. “The goal is to get the assessed value of the land back on our books.”

Because the county has created a tax increment funding district for the development, the property taxes generated will go toward paying off the performance mortgage, Gropp said. The county will hold control over the land until the mortgage is paid off, he added.

County officials want to act quickly. Layton said county commissioners will name a manager for the project at their March 1 meeting. Then the La Porte County Redevelopment Commission has to execute the mortgage. County Council members are holding an emergency meeting March 14 to approve the funds.

McDowell said ICS Logistics remains committed to its timeline and expects to release more information on the project in the coming months.

Officials have said the new facility would create an expected 135 new full-time positions as well as nearly 500 transportation-related jobs. Construction would require about another 500 jobs.

“I think it’s an exciting thing to happen. The prospect of construction jobs for tradespeople, then the jobs after for rail, trucking and labor is wonderful. It’s the shot in the arm this county needs,” Layton said.

[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...ab010892974.txt

$6M loan to replace track leading to industrial park

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 5:07 PM CDT
LA PORTE — County officials Monday approved a $6 million loan to replace more than a mile of railroad track leading to Kingsbury Industrial Park, the first step toward the park’s transition into a regional logistics hub.

“I believe this vote is the most important one the County Council has cast in several years,” Councilman Scott Ford said before the board unanimously approved the loan at a special meeting. “La Porte County’s future is directly linked to logistics, distribution and transportation. This new inland port will lead to new jobs and give La Porte County a much-needed boost in this recession.”

Even though no businesses have commitments to locate at Kingsbury, Tim Gropp, Greater La Porte Economic Development Corp. executive director, said several prospects want to see the project done before they make plans.

“Companies won’t come unless the rail is there and ready to go,” Gropp said. “We have 45 days to finalize the documents, but even that may be too long for some of our prospects to get started. They all have timelines of their own ... It’s time to move from concept to reality because people want to see progress.”

This “performance mortgage,” combined with $3 million CSX Transportation has pledged to create a rail interchange for its trains to access the site, will make the industrial park more attractive to potential customers, Gropp said. County officials have worked with the state Department of Agriculture on marketing Kingsbury Industrial Park as a food-logistics hub. With everything in place, the park would become the only site statewide with the ability to quickly import produce from as far away as Central America, as well as export Indiana beef and dairy products.

The $6 million will be paid out of the county’s Major Moves Construction Fund, according to the council’s resolution to finance the project with Halfwassen Group LLC of Milwaukee. The loan will be repaid over 15 years using property tax income generated by the increase in assessed property value, otherwise known as Tax Increment Financing. The money will be deposited into an escrow fund, to be disbursed as work is completed. Halfwassen will be responsible for constructing the rail line into the park and making any improvements required by federal and state law, and all payments on that work will be approved by the county.

The county will hold control over the 203 acres of land owned by Halfwassen Group along Stillwell Road leading north to the industrial park from the CSX rail line until the loan is repaid.

“This project wouldn’t happen without Major Moves funding. The council has been very clear that they want accountability with this money,” Gropp said. “If (Halfwassen Group) can’t generate $6 million in assessed property value, they would either have to write the county a check, or the county could take the land. We hope neither will be necessary and that this logistics project will be successful.”

The county no longer has a $3 million commitment for improvements on Hupp Road it garnered from the state when ICS Logistics originally committed to building a $50 million refrigerated warehouse and distribution center at the industrial park, Gropp said, only because there needs to be a plan to increase jobs before they pledge support. ICS, a Jacksonville, Fla., company that provides transportation, warehousing and maritime services to national and international customers, is still considering the site, however.

“When we have another commitment, we will be able to go back with another proposal,” Gropp said.

Councilman Ford, who has worked in the logistics industry for 25 years, said the county’s 5 1/2 year journey toward creating an intermodal logistics facility should soon pay off.

“We need to support CSX and the Halfwassen Group with every advantage our area can provide, because large-scale logistics startups are very challenging,” he said. “A successful startup goes a long way in telling the logistics industry that we are the best site for new development in the Midwest.”

[Southsider2k12]

http://heraldargus.com/articles/2011/05/25...8f464488297.txt

Railroad spur construction moves forward

By Matt Fritz
Staff writer
1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13887
mfritz@heraldargus.com
Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 5:00 PM CDT
LA PORTE — The construction of a railroad spur to the Kingsbury Industrial Park is going to encourage some major economic development in the county, said County Commissioner Ken Layton.

And with the Halfwassen Group’s agreement to start construction by July 5, it’s going to be coming to the county in the near future.

Layton, who was involved in negotiations for the project, said it would help the county in a number of ways once it’s complete.

“Number one, I expect the impact to be more jobs in the area,” he said. “Number two, I expect an increase in the assessed valuation of the property and the number of corporations or companies that will function out of the Kingsbury Industrial Park and add to the base of the county.”

Click here to find out more!
The project involves the construction, installation and equipping of a rail spur from a CSX mine railway line to the Kingsbury Industrial Park. There Halfwassen plans to build a refrigeration unit to store produce coming as far away as South America. It also will allow meat and produce from La Porte to be shipped down there.

On Monday, the County Council adopted a resolution to grant a $6 million, 15-year loan to the Halfwassen Group, for the project. It also called for the creation of a property owners association to take responsibility for the completion of the project if one of the parties were to leave, and for construction to begin by July 5.

At the meeting, County Council President Rich Mrozinski said the spur and railroad traffic would encourage other businesses to come to the park. Layton agreed.

“Number one, the spur will bring in an increase in rail traffic to the area which, in turn, the intermodal effect will increase the number of corporations in the Kingsbury Industrial Park,” he said. “It will bring in a tie to Central America with the produce coming to cold storage.”

He pointed out that CSX has also committed $3 million for the rail transfer and signaling at the spur. He said CSX will hopefully be able to tie into the South Shore Railroad, which will cause growth in the Michigan City area.

“This is just a plus plus for La Porte County and the citizens of La Porte County,” he said. “I don’t see any loss in it whatsoever.”

He said the time frame was supplied by Halfwassan Development, who picked the specific date of July 5. This was after negotiations with the county.

“This has been on track for the better part of a year and there had been no movement,” he said. “So we were asking for a specific date and some kind of time structure.”

He said the company expects the rail portion to be done sometime in late October or early November, and construction of the warehouse unit and transportation facility to be completed sometime in early winter or early spring.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...24971619289.txt

Deal may spur progress on rail-served facility

By Stan Maddux
For The News-Dispatch
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 5:08 PM CDT
LA PORTE — Construction of a warehouse facility served by rail in Kingsbury could start next month after a significant door for the project opened.

The La Porte County Commission approved an agreement Tuesday between the developers of the proposed cold storage warehouse facility, Kingsbury Utility Corp., and the U.S. Army. The deal calls for the utility to extend a sewer line one mile to the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Kingsbury.

In exchange, the military branch will provide a 21⁄2-mile long easement going across its property that the extended rail line will follow to the warehouse site.

“It goes a long way toward making this project happen,” Commission President Ken Layton said. “It opens up the door we didn’t have open.”

*
Because the utility’s service boundaries do not extend to the Army Reserve Center, Layton said the county, under the agreement, will take ownership of the extended sewer line for three years.

Ownership after the time period expires will be transferred to the utility, he said.

The county will own the lines initially to satisfy the Army, which doesn’t enter into agreements with private entities, Layton said.

Jeff Johnson, Kingsbury Utility Corp. president and owner, said work on extending the sewer line will start in October and be finished before winter.

Technically, Johnson said, the work will be the first construction for the rail to warehouse facility.

“This is the beginning of a very big project for us,” Johnson said.

Fruit, vegetables and other perishable food will be shipped to the site on the CSX tracks from Florida, then held in the cold storage warehouse until loaded onto trucks that will carry the food to their final destinations.

Return trains will carry similar food products back to Florida.

Layton said there is no timetable yet on when to begin work on extending the rail and putting up the warehouse.

“I don’t have a date for that,” Layton said.

In June, the commissioners approved a financing plan that calls for the rail extensions and other site preparation work to be funded with $12 million in county, state and CSX Railroad dollars.

The county will contribute half of the money and be paid back from revenues generated by increases in the assessed taxable value of the land as it’s developed.

Initially, the hope is for several hundred new jobs to be created with sharp growth in the workforce as similar facilities to be served by the rail line go up at that location in future years.

“I think all around it’s just a very positive thing for La Porte County,” Johnson said.

[Southsider2k12]

I am so thrilled to see this get moving. It is great to see the NIMBY's beaten when the public good is at stake here. Best of luck to this project generating meaningful and well paying jobs.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/business/s...0,4499983.story

Intermodal work begins in Kingsbury
By STAN MADDUX South Bend Tribune Correspondent

7:04 p.m. EDT, September 5, 2012
LAPORTE -- Just days after securing a railway easement, the process for construction of an intermodal facility at Kingsbury has sprung into action.

"That's what we've been waiting for for all of this period of time," said LaPorte County Board of Commissioners President Ken Layton.

During Tuesday's LaPorte County commissioners meeting, Layton said he was informed in writing by CSX that the materials are being ordered for a 2-mile extension of a rail line to the proposed intermodal facility at the Kingsbury Industrial Park.

The letter also revealed construction of the line could be completed within the first quarter of 2013 and no later than June 30 of next year, he said.

CSX officials also indicated an agreement has been worked out with a company that has agreed to build a cold storage warehouse at Kingsbury, Layton said.

"The project is off and running as we have told the people all along that we thought it would be," said Layton.

Originally, the start of construction was anticipated in 2010 but the process in obtaining an easement for the rail extension took much longer than expected.

The federal government last week finally granted permission for an easement running across the Army Reserve Center at Kingsbury in exchange for a sewer hookup to the military facility.

Initially, more than 50 warehouse jobs are projected along with more than 100 truck driving related jobs, said Leigh Morris, director of business recruitment for the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

CSX has also designated the Kingsbury location as a "select site."

There are only 26 other CSX select sites east of the Mississippi River, leading officials to believe more warehouses and potentially hundreds of jobs are in the cards.

"This is really I think potentially one of the biggest economic development steps taken in LaPorte County in a long time," said Morris.

Perishable food will be brought in by train and stored in the refrigerated warehouse until transported by truck to market.

The site will be developed with help from $6 million from LaPorte County, along with $3 million apiece from CSX and the state.

"Lots of different pieces had to come together but they have come together and I believe we will be celebrating a groundbreaking here in very short order," said Morris.

[Commuter]

I support this initiative. my only fear is politics. Will the refrigeration warehouse be awarded to someone through a no-bid contract, or has it already been awarded; will there be opportunity for free enterprise etc.

[Southsider2k12]

INtermodal hits snag

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...7748bb850a.html

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/kin...e4e3f743d1.html

Stan Maddux Times Correspodndent

KINGSBURY | A deal for shipping farm products such as fresh produce in refrigerated train cars between an intermodal facility in LaPorte County and Florida has taken another major step toward reality.

A major financial backer has signed on with Green Express, the company trying to get the freight trains running, to deliver produce throughout Indiana and other states along to other countries.

News of a major financial backer for the project was revealed after officials in LaPorte County returned Feb. 22 from Florida following a series of meetings with officials at ports at Tampa Bay and near The Everglades.

The talks involved other major players from other countries included Panama.

"There have been some significant developments that are encouraging to us as we try to keep the project moving forward," LaPorte County attorney Shaw Friedman said.

Friedman said a "deep pocket equity partner" has signed a letter of intent to be a majority financial backer of Green Express, which wants to build and operate facilities in both states where produce would be loaded and taken off trains and stored in cold storage warehouses for distribution to markets in the U.S. and abroad.

Friedman said the financial backers are not being identified yet because the deal must still be finalized.

However, he said the equity partner has a wealth of experience with projects similar to the operations in the works in Kingsbury and Florida.

"We're not at liberty to reveal that yet," Friedman said.

Specifically, the proposed financial backer of Green Express is involved in industrial warehousing and renovation of old industrial sites and military installations.

During World War II, the military made ammunition at the Kingsbury site.

"Any project needs financing with deep pockets and some experience and some clout in the industry and we think Green Express has landed that with the folks they signed the letter agreement with," Friedman said.

He said talks were also productive with officials at the sea port in Tampa Bay and the 5,000-acre inland America's Gateway near The Everglades port.

Produce at those two sites would be loaded and unloaded from refrigerated CSX train cars making non-stop round trips with produce and other farm products such as pork and chicken.

Officials at both ports are waiting for the tentative partnership between Green Express and its financial backers to become official before making a decision on opening their ports to CSX trains, Friedman said.

Friedman said a vote by officials at each of the ports could happen as soon as next month depending on how fast a partnership between Green Express and its financial backers can officially be inked.

"Those were good, productive visits," Friedman said.

The project is viewed as a potential major job creator that will also grow the opportunity for farmers to reach new markets with more products.

Having a line of freight trains carrying strictly produce non-stop from both locations will speed up the time it takes for farm produce to reach customers and longer shelf life.

Friedman said the proposed rail line would be able to reach each destination in less than 56 hours and with more volume from having strictly farm products on all of the train cars.

The cost of transportation factored into the cost of produce for consumers also would be reduced.

Friedman said no more meetings are scheduled right now, but a lot of communication will occur in the coming weeks to try and finalize the arrangements.

"A lot of pieces are coming together and I think that's the encouraging part of the trip," Friedman said.

The potential for farmers is large enough for the project to be on the radar screens at the Indiana Department of Agriculture, which was hoping for good news from the trip to Florida.

"It's very exciting," said Ben Kenney, director of communications for the IDA in Indianapolis.

Kenney said trains full of produce running non-stop back and forth to the ocean is new to Indiana.

He could not predict how much of an impact that would have on the agriculture industry in the state.

However, he said the potential is enough to definitely catch the attention of the IDA, which has been following the project while it's been coming together the past several years.

"We believe once this is operational this will open a door for Hoosier farmers and producers for new international opportunities," Kenney said.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/fir...5de7c92e15.html

Stand Maddux Times Correspondent

KINGSBURY | The long talked about intermodal facility at Kingsbury could be ready to take off now that the site has landed its first company.

Helena Chemical Co., a leading distributor of fertilizer and other farm products, has bought land at the new Inland Logistics Port, making it the first customer at the 800-acre site at Kingsbury Industrial Park.

Matt Reardon, director for the La Porte County Office of Economic Development, now expects a snowballing effect at the site that's been years in the making.

"I believe any time you're able to get a national company into a location that helps drive interest," Reardon said.

How many jobs will be created at the new Kingsbury facility was not disclosed.

But the Colliersville, Tenn.-based comapny has about 4,000 employees, including more than 900 sales representatives working out of more than 400 locations across the country.

"Helena plans to continue to service our customers with better and more efficient facilities in the LaPorte and surrounding counties' area. We are very excited about the site we have chosen and the support of the community that we have received," said Doug Goff, division manager of Helena Chemical Co. out of Carmel, Ind.

Inland Logistics Port had a rail spur last year extended to the site from an existing CSX rail line to service the property, and in 2012 the ground was given a prestigious CSX Select Site certification due to it being in a position to alleviate freight train congestion in the Chicago area.

Reardon said Helena Chemical Co. at its own expense will extend another rail spur to where it's going to build from an existing Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad line a half mile away.

The new line will at some point be connected to the rail spur extended last year into Inland Logistics Port from the CSX line.

The decision by the company to expand at the Inland Logistics Port was made without seeking tax abatement or any other government incentives, Reardon said.

"When the private sector wants to do their business, as long as they're doing it within the parameters of the law we applaud it. We welcome the jobs not only on the construction side but on the company side," Reardon said.

The infrastructure to be paid for by the company will give the industrial park more than one rail line, something viewed as an advantage in trying to attract more companies.

"The infrastructure investments made to date have transformed these 800 acres into an industrial park with dual-rail service capability that can attract national companies," said Colin Halfwassen, president of the Halfwassen Group the owner of the Inland Logistics Port.

Helena Chemical Co. bills itself as one of the nation's foremost distributors of crop protection and crop production inputs and services for agricultural turf and ornamental, forestry, aquatics and vegetation management markets.

Karen Lauerman, director of marketing and communications with the Northwest Indiana Forum, also said landing the first company should help the effort to bring other companies to the site.

"It's something that we can tout. We're happy that they chose Northwest Indiana and we'll be working with them to find maybe other companies that are in a related industry," Lauerman said/

The decision by the company to expand comes while local officials continue to try and wrap up a deal for Green Express to build a cold storage warehouse at Kingsbury to transport fresh produce in refrigerated freight cars to and from Florida for distribution throughout the Midwest and in other countries.

Expansion also is ongoing by Kingsbury Elevator, which is extending a rail line to where it has operated for several decades to increase the volume of grain it can take in to store and ship.

[Groucho]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...1a186739819.txt

This sounds like a good thing to me.