Yahoo Finance CORE X breaks ground on five-story cold storage facility in Crown Point
Brisk December winds did not deter dozens of people eager to officially break ground Thursday on the expected $200 million-plus, temperature-controlled storage and supply chain facility CORE X Crown at 13450 Mississippi Parkway in Crown Point.
CORE X Partners of Laurel, New Jersey, plans to build the 5-story facility in three phases with the first phase opening in the fourth quarter of 2024. Phase 1 will house 14 food producers. The full project is expected to take about three years to complete, said Ken Whah, Chief Operating Officer of CORE X Partners and president of CORE X Partners Midwest.
“Logistically, it just makes sense to be in the region,” Whah said. “We believe this is a great place to be.”
The company formed three years ago and brings together a combined 250 years of experience in cold storage to meet the growing demand for facilities. CORE X currently operates facilities in 9 states.
CORE X Crown will be built in three phases and will have 200,000 square feet of freezer space. The building will be five stories tall and have 28,000 pallet positions for frozen food distribution.
Phase 1 of the project is expected to cost about $93 million and create 75 new jobs that will include warehouse positions and technical staff to support and maintain the automation technology.
Once all three phases are complete, Whah said the company expects to employ about 150 people.
There are 1,000 food producers within a 100-mile area. Whah said he is not concerned about potential competition because the need for such facilities is so great. U.S. Cold Storage recently broke ground on a $124 million facility located about 7 miles south, at Indiana 2 and Interstate 65 in Lowell
“There’s a lot of building going on and it is absolutely needed,” Whah said.
He said by locating in Crown Point, CORE X plans to become a partner committed to the community and building on the company’s goal of ending food insecurity and food waste.
Whah said about 40% of food produced winds up in the garbage and one in six individuals is food insecure. The company works to distribute food donated by its business partners to partners within the community to help limit waste and feed those in need.
“Our target is to donate 1 million meals (a year) in the area,” Whah said. “We want to make sure this becomes the hub to end food insecurity in Northwest Indiana.”
Crown Point Mayor Pete Land called it a great day, adding that a development of this magnitude does not come to fruition until after a long journey before the city’s various boards and commissions and the council. He said a lot of work went into crafting what as become the final project.
Land called the project an economic boon not just for Crown Point but for the region in general. He described CORE X and their mission to help end food insecurity as the type of company you want in your community.
“This is a company you work hard to get,” Land said. “This is going to benefit our region and our community significantly.”
Don Babcock, interim president and CEO of the Lake County Economic Alliance, described the development as the type of project envisioned when the alliance formed in 2013. At the time there was no single point of contact to talk about development opportunities in Lake County. Now through LCEA and the Indiana Economic Development Corp., and the support of community leaders, that has changed.
“We’ve been on a roll the last 9 or 10 years,” Babcock said. “Projects like this create the pride we need in Northwest Indiana.”
Randy Palmateer, business manager for the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, said often large companies come in with big projects but bring their own entire workforce, which does nothing to help the local economy.
“Thank you for giving the opportunity to local contractors to bid this project,” Palmateer said.
