Elk Grove Village business park getting new tenants

Two new businesses are coming to Elk Grove Village this spring, signaling a good start to the new year, Mayor Craig Johnson said Wednesday.

Creative Werks LLC, a candy packaging company presently headquartered in Bensenville, is expanding to a 254,000-square-foot building on Brummel Drive between Busse Road and Lively Boulevard within the village's industrial park, Johnson said.

“They employ up to 700 people,” Johnson said.

The second new tenant is Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, which will be opening a shop in the Elk Grove Town Center by late spring, Johnson said.

Johnson said in 2012 the village saw a resurgence of activity within its business park.

“Last year, we had a phenomenal year with new businesses and it's continuing this year,” Johnson said.

Yusen Logistics, a freight forwarding company relocating from Wood Dale, is building a 240,000-square-foot facility along Busse Road near Estes Avenue. Meanwhile, a couple of industrial buildings along Busse Road that have been vacant for several years will soon be torn down to make way for two new, roughly 200,000-plus-square-foot buildings.

One location was the former home of Sanfilippo & Son Inc., among the largest processors, manufacturers and distributors of nuts, which moved to Elgin, and the other was a distribution warehouse for Wirtz Beverage Group, now in Cicero.

“Developers are tearing them down and rebuilding and making it marketable for new tenants,” Johnson said. “Busse Road is going to become an even bigger hub here in the community. We're seeing the best turnaround in decades.”

Johnson said the vacancy rate within the business park is now roughly 9.7 percent, down from about 11.8 percent in the beginning of 2011.

“We've got about 100 million square feet between commercial and industrial space under roof,” Johnson said. “That's 2 million square feet occupied that wasn't occupied the year before. We're seeing a lot of teardowns, rebuilds like gangbusters in our industrial area. We had a great finish last year. The last quarter of the year, 785,000 square feet was leased.”

The village's sales tax receipts also have seen a turnaround within the last year and a half, Johnson said.

“October alone is up $280,000 in sales tax over the year before,” he said. “Best sales tax numbers ever in the history of Elk Grove. Just seeing these numbers alone, things are really picking up here in the community.”

Johnson said the village is seeing a great return on its investment in infrastructure, roads and intersections.

The village this year plans to undertake its largest public works project spending $38 million on infrastructure improvements throughout residential areas and the business park. The money will fund repairs and upgrades of the village's stormwater drainage and sanitary sewer systems.

“The work we've done with roadways, the intersection improvements are really starting to pay dividends for us and we're excited about that,” Johnson said. “With everything that's going on, companies are taking a serious look at Elk Grove.”