CHICAGO, IL – Hot off the heels of last month’s announcement, C.H. Robinson is once again growing its operations in the Windy City.
The logistics provider has signed a seven-year lease for a 235,000 square foot commercial office building in Des Plaines. The facility, which will house approximately 150 employees, is expected to open in early 2016.
The facility will primarily serve two functions, namely as a major hub for both North American and international freight consolidation operations and as C.H. Robinson’s in-house TSA Certified Cargo Screening facility (CCSF). According to a press release, 36,726 square feet of the warehouse space will be dedicated to state-of-the-art screening technology to ensure expeditious service to shippers. Customers will also be able to track their freight before, during, and after the screening process thanks to C.H. Robinson’s global technology platform, Navisphere®.
C.H. Robinson’s President of Global Forwarding, Mike Short, said that Chicago is one of the most important markets in the company’s global shipping network because of its connectivity to Class I rail, ocean shipping, truck transportation, and one of the world’s leading airports.
“This move will enable our customers to have better access to these transportation options, and will position our company to build on our decade of rapid expansion in Chicago,” he said.
C.H. Robinson’s growth in Chicago has been substantial since 2005. Ten years ago, the company signed its first lease for a 30,000 square foot Chicago-based freight consolidation facility. Since then, the company’s employee base has virtually doubled in the city to nearly 2,000. That number accounts for approximately 15 percent of its global workforce, according to a press release.
“The fact that we just leased a facility with 235,000 square feet speaks to the immense growth we’ve been able to achieve in Chicago over the past decade, and the aggressive plans we have for the future,” said Eric Shover, C.H. Robinson’s Vice President of North America Global Forwarding.
The lease was executed with Liberty Property Trust, which owns 50 buildings, offering approximately 13 million square feet of space in the Chicago/Milwaukee corridor.
The facility is located at 333 Howard Avenue in Des Plaines, near O'Hare International Airport.
