Brillion-based manufacturer Ariens Company has signed a lease for a 600,000-square-foot building in the Village of Somers, in Kenosha County, for its new distribution center.
The building is the first phase of First Park 94, a business park located on 309 acres northeast of county Highway H and 38th Street, currently being developed by Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.
Ariens distribution center will consolidate operations it had throughout the Midwest into a single larger, more modern and more efficient facility.
“We often ship product based on weather events and need to respond quickly to fluctuating customer demand,” said Dan Ariens. “Finding the right distribution center is critical to our growth strategy.”
Somers village president George Stoner said when residents voted last year to incorporate into a village, the trustees established two tax incremental districts that allowed for companies like Ariens to relocate to Somers.
“The result is $362 million of new long term development on the books and a $5.796 million investment in infrastructure in 17 short months,” Stoner said. “That impressive growth number means Somers is meeting the needs of businesses who want to invest here. First Park 94 is our first industrial park development and we welcomes the park’s first new tenant, Ariens Company, a Wisconsin-based business with an exceptional world-wide reputation.”
The Village of Somers provided a $250,000 development incentive to Ariens, as well as Kenosha County supplying $250,000 from its High Impact Fund, which is administered by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance to provide incentives to high impact economic development projects.
“Companies like Ariens are what have made Wisconsin a manufacturing powerhouse and we are delighted to welcome them to our community,” said Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser.
The First Park 94 business park broke ground in August 2015. It can accommodate approximately 4.6 million square feet of development including build-to-suits ranging from 150,000 square feet to 1.5 million square feet. Securing a tenant for the first building led to the August 2016 groundbreaking on a second building for Phase 2.
The new building will be west of Ariens’ building and will total 602,000 square feet with the ability to expand. The second building will be available for occupancy spring of 2017.
