Mayor criticizes Amazon proposal
Distribution center in Bolingbrook uncertain with official to retire
Amazon’s plan to put a distribution center on the former Old Chicago amusement park and megamall site in Bolingbrook could be a tall order, after pushback from the village’s longtime mayor.
Hours after the Tribune on Tuesday reported the online giant’s $50.5 million purchase of 119 acres along Interstate 55, Mayor Roger Claar began criticizing Amazon’s building plans. He also criticized the 1,500 jobs the company said it wants to bring to the site, saying the pay is too low.
Claar balked at what he said is a proposed 100-foot-tall, metal structure facility, calling it too tall and unsightly. The 34-year mayor, in comments first reported by CoStar Group, said the 825,000- to 850,000-square-foot building would dramatically exceed the height of a five-story Holiday Inn hotel that is Bolingbrook’s tallest structure. His stance hadn’t softened by Friday. “I’ve yet to find anybody who’s excited,” Claar said in an interview Friday. “It’s going to further jam up the 55 and 53 intersection, the jobs will pay only $15 an hour, and I’ve yet to find anyone who’s not concerned about a 100-foot-tall building — which is taller than anything in Bolingbrook, with no windows.”
Amazon’s plan would require a zoning change because it far exceeds the village’s 60-foot height limit, Claar said.
Objections by the ninth-term mayor call into question what will become of the land along the east and west sides of Illinois Route 53, where Old Chicago was torn down in 1986. Yet it’s possible Amazon could try to wait out Claar, who Friday said he doesn’t plan to run for a 10th term next year.
Claar is a powerful force in the southwest suburban village known for big industrial and office campuses lining the expressway. He’s also controversial, in part because of his active role in supporting President Donald Trump. Claar defeated challenger Jackie Traynere by just 151 votes in 2017.
Since the incumbent is retiring, it’s uncertain whether it will be Claar or his successor who will determine the land’s future use.
Most recently, the property was used as Manheim Arena Illinois until the auto auction center closed late last year. The property’s Atlanta-based parent company, Cox Automotive, sold the site to Amazon in January.
Seattle-based Amazon has not commented on its plans publicly.
Claar said the company contacted him after putting the property under contract but before completing the purchase. Amazon was the only one of 18 prospective buyers — most of which were industrial developers — that didn’t discuss potential plans while making offers on the land, Claar said.
Since making critical comments, Claar said he’s been contacted by one of the unsuccessful buyers of the property — Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial
Properties — that said it is representing Amazon to help the e-commerce behemoth through the development process.
A Seefried representative did not respond to requests for comment. Amazon has declined to comment beyond an initial statement that read in part: “This land purchase in Bolingbrook provides us with the flexibility to quickly respond to our future network needs.”
Amazon in recent years has built a network of distribution centers in the Chicago area. Amazon leased three warehouses recently developed on the site of the former
Maywood Park horse track just west of Chicago in Melrose Park.
The Bolingbrook proposal would have a height equivalent to an eight- or nine-story building, but it’s unclear how many floors it actually would have, Claar said. It could be a one-story structure with items stacked high on racks.
In some U.S. cities where land is scarce, such as New York, Seattle and San Francisco, multi-floor warehouses have begun to emerge. Upper levels of those buildings are accessible to delivery trucks via ramps.