FexEx looking at CB for new distribution center

[eomaha]

Seems like it was just a short time ago when FedEx moved south to a larger location on 72nd Street. Apparently Council Bluffs will land a larger location still (you have to wonder if La Vista is considering how to pull another 'OTC'). Some additional jobs will apparently be added. Good news for Council Bluffs.

FedEx eyes Bluffs for new center

COUNCIL BLUFFS - FedEx Ground has expressed interest in building a 68,000-square-foot distribution center in a proposed new business park on the city's south side, local officials said.

The new center would allow FedEx to combine and expand small-package business and home delivery operations now housed in smaller leased facilities in Omaha and Carter Lake, said Mark Norman of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.

The cost of the proposed center was not available.

The facility would be built in a proposed 50-acre business park planned by the Council Bluffs Industrial Foundation, a nonprofit development group. The park would lie south of the South Omaha Bridge Road (Highway 275) and east of South 21st Street.

The project took two separate steps forward Tuesday.

The Council Bluffs Planning Commission approved a preliminary plan and a zoning change for the park. The plans still must be approved by the City Council.

In addition, the Iowa Transportation Commission approved a grant of up to $323,000 to cover half the cost of building a road into the park. The grant came through a fund aimed at aiding economic development through road work.

"It looks like everything's falling into place," Norman said.

FedEx has not made a final decision, he said. But the company would like to start construction in October and open the new facility next July.

The company would buy 11 acres in the business park, leaving the foundation seven lots to market to other businesses.

The industrial foundation would cover the remaining cost of extending South 19th Street into the park and of adding other infrastructure, estimated at $650,000, he said.

The City of Council Bluffs plans to install a new sewer trunk on the South Omaha Bridge Road that will serve the park and other developments. That line is to be completed by July 2005.

FedEx Ground currently has 54 full-time and 48 part-time positions in Omaha and Carter Lake, Norman said. Those employees would move to the new facility and the company would add 22 full-time and 72 part-time jobs. The facility later could be expanded to 79,000 square feet.