ProLogis expanding footprint in township
- ProLogis is preparing ground along I-70 for two large industrial buildings.
- The early work, visible to passersby, is focused on grading the ground.
- A large mound, with buffering on top, will block the Mayflower subdivision from the site.
- Work on the industrial buildings could start sometime in 2015.
ETNA TOWNSHIP – Work crews are busy preparing a new corporate site along Interstate 70, just west of the Ohio 310 interchange, but full-fledged building construction could be months away.
The work is part of ProLogis’ ongoing effort to expand its footprint in the western Licking County township.
“What they’re doing right now is grading (the property) and preparing it for stormwater retention,” township administrator Rob Platte said.
ProLogis received a permit from the county to grade the ground, and the permit calls for the future construction of two industrial buildings, one covering nearly 700,000 square feet and the other covering nearly 800,000 square feet.
“They will be eventually what goes on the site, but we don’t have the building plans yet,” Platte said.
ProLogis owns the 100-acre property, which stands north of I-70 and south of U.S. 40. The company, which operates and develops industrial real estate, already owns another 182-acre mostly developed site on the opposite side of U.S. 40. It calls the corporate site ProLogis Park 70 — Etna.
The existing park is near completion, Platte said, prompting the company to look at the site abutting I-70.
Construction crews inside ProLogis Park are building the fifth and final planned building. It should cover nearly 411,000 square feet. An existing 766,600-square-foot building can be expanded by another 475,000 square feet in the future.
With the corporate park nearly filled, Platte said, it makes sense for ProLogis to start developing the remaining acreage it owns on the opposite side of U.S. 40.
It started the project earlier this year, first clearing trees on the site.
Work crews are now installing retention ponds, like the ones that front U.S. 40 at ProLogis Park. They also are installing a 50-foot-wide mound of dirt along the treeline that abuts the neighboring Mayflower subdivision to the west. The 5-foot-tall mound will be topped by landscape buffering.
In addition, Platte said ProLogis is ensuring future rainwater does not flood the subdivision.
“Mayflower through the years has gotten runoff from that property,” Platte said. “Their whole intent is to make sure there is no more runoff to the subdivision.”
Although ProLogis has not stated when it intends to break ground on the two new buildings, Platte said, the work could start sometime in 2015.
In the meantime, the township still has plenty of developable industrial and business property.
Much of the area north of ProLogis Park 70 Etna and south of Refugee Road is zoned M-1 for future light manufacturing purposes. Much of the acreage south of I-70, around the Ohio 310 interchange, also is zoned for light manufacturing and business uses.
“That potentially could be the next development area in the township,” Platte said, pointing to both sites.