(La Porte, IN) - Developers are wasting no time taking advantage of improvements along US 39 North. Plans for a new distribution center were announced at Monday’s La Porte City Council meeting.

 

IST Logistics is in the final planning stages of an 81,000-square-foot facility. Headquartered in Hammond, the company intends to make a $24 million capital investment and bring in about a dozen new jobs paying about $34 an hour. On Monday night the city council approved a five-year tax abatement for 50% of real property.

 

The site is near the Hickman Williams & Company on Progress Drive. Bert Cook, director of La Porte’s Economic Advancement Partnership, said this facility will store and distribute specialized packaging material. “The company brings in very small plastic pellets that are used in the food packaging industry,” he said. “So they’re not manufacturing anything; they’re just bringing in the pellets via rail, and then they package them out and send them to customers across the Midwest.”

 

According to IST project manager Jeff Swan, the nearby Chicago South Shore railway was a major draw. “The main reason we wanted it was due to the rail system,” he told council members. IST jumped at the opportunity and began planning, but halfway through, Swan said, they realized that infrastructure in the area was not sufficient. So the company has been waiting patiently for improvements.

 

“There hasn’t been adequate water service,” Cook said. “They’ve been waiting on the annexation to be complete. They’ve been waiting for the city to settle on the infrastructure improvements that they’re making. And so they’ve definitely been in the works for a while now, but I know they’re excited to get started as quick as possible.” Cook said construction is expected to begin in the fall.

 

Swan also told the council that his company is already looking at other properties in the same area.