Hoffman Estates officials hope new building will become Amazon distribution center

A recently completed 250,000-square-foot industrial building in Hoffman Estates that could have accommodated up to four separate tenants is hoped to be turned exclusively into an Amazon distribution center in time for the next holiday shopping season in the fall.

The Hoffman Estates village board is expected to follow through on their own Monday recommendation in a week to approve the changes to the currently empty and generic building at 3125 N. Barrington Road.

Costs of the changes would be borne by both the building's owner, Prairie Ridge Acquisitions LLC, and Amazon itself if and when it signs a lease.

"It'll be a significant capital outlay," Peter Harmon of Prairie Ridge Acquisitions told the village board Monday.

The building is the latest addition to the Fountain Crossing Business Park on the east side of Barrington Road, south of Mundhank Road and north of Lakewood Boulevard.

Kyle DeGiulio, manager of economic development policy at Amazon for the Midwest and Canada, said this would be the company's fourth such facility in the Chicago metro area. It's intended to employ about 250 people - full time and part time - and provide deliveries in an approximately 60-mile radius.

"This is not a truck-heavy operation," DeGiulio said. "In a given day there's only about 14 trucks that would come here, and that's bringing inventory into the warehouse. ... With 14, it could be less than a truck an hour."

A majority of the 3,700 daily trips expected at the facility would be from passenger vehicles, according to the proposal. In fact, the expected changes to the building would replace 14 already constructed truck docks with more employee parking.

Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said the value of the jobs that will be generated speaks for itself, but the Amazon brand name is likely to help draw even more employers to the village.

He added that area of the village knew even more traffic when it included the AT&T corporate campus, and that was before the convenience of the full tollway interchange now on Barrington Road.

"The traffic isn't going to be bad," McLeod said of the proposed Amazon facility. "I think it's a great addition to the community."