Cottage Grove: The Place to Be for Business

Summer is always prime construction time in Minnesota. Cottage Grove, located less than 15 miles from St. Paul, 2022 has proven to be even more active than typical.

Construction is underway on one of the largest industrial developments in Minnesota at  Cottage Grove Logistics Park off 100th Street South and Ideal Avenue. NorthPoint Development representatives joined city, county, state and federal officials at the site on May 26 to break ground on the 3.4 million-square-foot project.

The NorthPoint Development project is a $373 million capital investment in Cottage Grove and will consist of nine industrial buildings totaling 3.4 million square feet of industrial space on a 253-acre site. Phase One, which includes Buildings One and Two, is now underway, with recently completed footings, foundations, precast walls and site utilities. Phase One also includes road improvements along 100th St. and the new construction of 105th St. Plans are to deliver Building Two by the end of 2022, with completion of Building One to follow shortly after. 

“Cottage Grove is open for business, and we are proud to welcome NorthPoint Development to our rapidly growing business park. It’s been exciting to watch this project evolve from an idea on paper to reality,” Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey said. “NorthPoint’s 3.4 million-square-foot Cottage Grove Logistics Park will bring thousands of good-paying jobs to our city and surrounding areas. That’s on top of the company’s $373 million capital investment in our community. More and more companies want to call our business-friendly city home, and we are excited about what that means for people who live, work and play in Cottage Grove.”

Once complete, the addition to the Cottage Grove Industrial Park will bring more than 1,800 jobs and over $73 million of annual wages to Cottage Grove. The investment into Cottage Grove is estimated to generate $1.2 million in the tax base annually for the City of Cottage Grove to help fund community improvements. The construction project is estimated to create 1,465 construction jobs that generate $37 million in annual wages.

Proactive city

Being new to the Twin Cities market, NorthPoint conducted a metropolitan evaluation to identify sites over 100 acres. With additional high-priority metrics such as a robust and available workforce and good access to the I-494/694 highways, the Cottage Grove Logistics Park rose to the top of the list. 

“This Development is the start of a tremendous partnership with the City of Cottage Grove. We love this location to invest our capital due to logistics, labor and business-friendly openness from the City of Cottage Grove,” said Brent Miles, Chief Marketing Officer at NorthPoint Development. “Capital goes where capital is welcome and we are grateful for the opportunity to work closely with the City to bring thousands of good-paying jobs to further strengthen the short- and long-term economy for Cottage Grove.”

With projects of this scope, a critical point in NorthPoint’s decision-making process is identifying communities that have exhibited proactive involvement. According to Mark Militzer, NorthPoint Regional Vice President, private development follows public investment.

“All signs pointed to Cottage Grove, as it quickly became evident the City and Washington County had been planning for the future, prioritizing and funding needed design changes, like street realignments,” he said. “Once we engaged with local officials, we also found a pro-business, professional staff.”

Target tenants for the development are light industrial users like regional distribution centers and last-mile facilities. Prime access to U.S. 10 and I-494 allows for efficient contact with regional and local distribution customers. In addition, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is less than 30 minutes from the location, keeping long-distance customers within reach. The timeline to complete all nine buildings is estimated to extend four years past the completion of Phase One.