Lineage Logistics in Hobart is doing a $130 million expansion that will involve a massive continuous concrete pour this weekend in Hobart.
The suburban Detroit-based company plans to add 180,000 square feet of cold storage space at its campus at 2201 Northwind Parkway in the Northwind Crossings business park, and to hire 90 more permanent full-time workers. The company hopes to open a new fully automated rack support building by 2025.
About 150 concrete trucks will make at least nine trips to the work site starting at 1 a.m. Saturday for what Mayor Josh Huddlestun describes as "one of the longest continuous concrete pours in world history, right here in Hobart, Indiana."
"It's pretty big," he said. "It shows their commitment to the area and the work we've done here. They're expanding, reinvesting in the area and growing their workforce."
People are also reading…
Huddlestun is encouraging drivers to avoid the Northwinds Crossing business park during the project this weekend. It's located southeast of the 61st Street exit off of Interstate 65, between Mississippi Street and Colorado Street.
"Almost every road in the city is under construction right now," he said. "Drivers should stay away from the concrete pour. There's going to be a lot of concrete trucks."
Five to seven concrete plants will serve the massive project. Ozinga, the concrete giant known for its red-and-white-striped trucks, is throwing a ton of resources at the project.
"It's one of Ozinga's largest pours," Huddlestun said. "It goes to show Northwest Indiana and Hobart are hotbeds for development. Northwinds has been a tremendous industrial park development for us. It showed it could be done in Northwest Indiana and had a ripple effect across the Region."
Lineage Logistics is a global giant that claims to be the "world's largest temperature-controlled warehouse real estate investment trust." It operates 450 cold storage facilities in 18 countries exceeding three billion cubic feet of space.
It employs 26,000 workers, who often work in subzero warehouses to preserve food and other perishables.
The expansion in Hobart would have given Lineage Logistics the largest cold storage warehouse in Northwest Indiana, but it has since been eclipsed by plans for the CoreX project in Crown Point and the US Cold Storage project in Lowell, said Randy Palmateer, business manager of the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council.
Palmateer has been in talks with the contractor Victory about hiring local union labor for the project, which is expected to create 300 to 500 construction jobs.
"The conversations have been good," he said. "We're not there but we're working on an agreement on how they're going to build it. We're still in negotiations to build it with local union labor. We're still trying to work out the kinks but they're minor. We appreciate Victory, the new mayor Josh Huddlestun, the council and the city of Hobart for supporting the local workforce."
Lineage Logistics initially had been looking to bring in outside labor because of the specialized nature of the project. Local unions tradesmen have experience building cold storage facilities like Dawn Foods in Merrillville.
"We build refineries, steel mills and boats in the moat casinos," Palmateer said. "We can build anything from a birdhouse to a refinery on time and under budget. We spend $60 million training our apprentices every year to make sure they can tackle any project."
A look back at Northwest Indiana businesses that closed in 2023
A look back at Region businesses that closed in 2023
Beer Geeks, one of the Region's first, most beloved and most influential craft beer bars, closed after more than a decade and is being reimagined as a new concept.
The landmark 88-year-old castle-shaped White Castle in Whiting is coming down to be replaced with a newer, larger, more modern White Castle restaurant.
A longtime staple in downtown Crown Point poured its last drink.
The longtime Westforth Sports gun shop is closing.
The Silver Line Building Products plant at 16801 Exchange Ave. will be shuttered permanently.
Brewfest in Highland will close in what's been called "an end of an era."
David's Bridal filed for bankruptcy and could close all stores if no buyer emerges to save it.
The 88-year-old Whiting White Castle will be remembered with displays at museums in two different states.
For years, the "millionaire's club" met every morning in the corner booth of the historic 88-year-old White Castle at Indianapolis Boulevard and 119th Street in downtown Whiting. The landmark restaurant served its final slider Tuesday.
One of Northwest Indiana's most popular and enduring hobby shops is looking for a buyer after the longtime owner died.
J&L This N That Consignment Shop, a popular thrift store, closed in downtown Whiting after a run of several years.
A Calumet Region institution, Calumet Fisheries on the far South Side of Chicago, is temporarily closed after failing a city health inspection.
Just days after reopening after city health inspectors shut it down, Calumet Fisheries suffered a major fire.
Pepe's Mexican Restaurant is no mas in Valparaiso.
Beer Geeks in Highland rebranded as B-Side Bar & Lounge and then closed within a few months.
Troubled retailer Bed Bath and Beyond will permanently close its Valparaiso location as it shutters more stores nationwide as it looks to restructure and shrink its footprint to save the struggling business.
Peoples Bank has shuttered its branch in downtown Hammond.
Viking Artisan Ales will soon pour its last craft beer at its Merrillville taproom.
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is closing after 15 years at one of Northwest Indiana's most prominent highway interchanges.
The Chicago Auto Show, the nation's largest auto show, returns to McCormick Place Saturday, running through Feb. 19.