Crow Holdings to Develop Milwaukee Cargo Facility

South Cargo Logistics Hub. Image courtesy of CBRE

Crow Holdings will be giving a second life to a former Air Force base in Milwaukee by converting it into a modern cargo facility. The firm announced plans to develop South Cargo Logistics Hub on behalf of the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

The project is still going through the approval process, so Crow Holdings has not announced a groundbreaking date yet. The firm has completed more than nine months of due diligence work looking at the site’s feasibility for a cargo facility. Crow Holdings is working with the airport, the Air Force and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to determine if there’s any necessary remedial action for the site.

Depending on when the project gets the green light, the cargo facility could be delivered in the second half of 2024. The firm has already tapped CBRE’s David Prell and Scott Furmanski to market the industrial development.

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South Cargo Logistics Hub will offer a 288,000-square-foot cargo facility on the airport’s tarmac. The building will have 74 docks and 99 trailer stalls and access to the runway to handle large cargo aircraft. The plans also include a potential for a build-to-suit warehouse and office space. Located within the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, the facility will have direct access to I-94, which connects residents to downtown Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit.

Before Crow Holdings’ proposal, the site saw several short-term leases that repurposed the former Air Force buildings after the base officially closed in 2010. The site has been available for a large-scale development, but it was Crow Holdings’ concept that suited the airport’s overall master plan.

Crow Holdings’ industrial portfolio

South Cargo Logistics Hub will be the latest addition to Crow Holdings’ industrial portfolio, which totals 66 million square feet of developed space and $6.8 billion in overall project costs. The firm has industrial properties at other airports but has also developed multi-building commerce parks and infill, last-mile logistics facilities.

Nearby, Crow Holdings broke ground on a 758,000-square-foot speculative warehouse and distribution facility in Matteson, Ill., that’s meant to serve the Chicago metro area. More recently, a joint venture between Crow Holdings and Creation Equity completed construction on a 234,478-square-foot industrial facility in Haltom City, Texas, near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.