Hyundai Translead provided more details on its manufacturing plans in Joliet while seeking city approval for a property tax abatement.

The Hyundai Motor Co. subsidiary, which makes trailers, flatbeds and other products for the trucking industry, in March announced plans to move production into former Lion Electric and Caterpillar plants in the Joliet area.

All but 20 of the 2,475 people to work at the two plants “will be hired locally,” Hyundai Translead CEO Sean Kenney told the Joliet City Council on Monday.

Pay will be “market-plus with benefits,” Kenney said.

Kenney, a Lockport native, met with the council at its workshop meeting on Monday.

The council will vote Tuesday on a 50% property tax abatement at the former Lion Electric property. The abatement is estimated to be worth $66,000 a year and is tied to a three-year hiring plan at the plant.

The former Lion Electric plant is inside the city limits, giving the council jurisdiction over a property tax abatement. The former Caterpillar plant on Channahon Road is located just outside the city.

The company plans to begin hiring later this year, Kenney said after meeting with the council.

The company plans to hire nearly 1,300 workers at the former Lion Electric plant, according to the proposed abatement agreement with the city.

The employment plan tied to the property tax abatement calls for hiring 113 workers in the first year, 1,000 workers the next year, and 177 workers in year three.

“This is not a huge economic development abatement,” Councilman Larry Hug said of the property tax break. “This is the Joliet minimum.”

Hyundai would take over the Youngs Road plant that Lion Electric closed in 2025 after two years of operation making electric buses and trucks. The Caterpillar plant closed in 2018 after operating since 1951.

“This is a big deal for the city of Joliet,” Mayor Terry D’Arcy said to Kenney. “I appreciate you choosing us.”

Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra said, “This is so amazing to have not one building but two to be completely filled.”

The Hyundai project “will ultimately take the full footprint of both buildings – 2.4 million square feet," said Doug Pryor, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development.

Pryor accompanied Kenney at the City Council meeting.