CenterPoint calls for Joliet vote, gets preliminary OK after two delays

Teamster rep urged Plan Commission to table vote for third time

Board members Roberto Perez, left, Jason Cox and Marc Rousonelos listen toAttorney Chris Spesia speak at the Joliet Plan Commission meeting. Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Joliet.

CenterPoint Properties moved a step forward in a Joliet project held up for four months by the Plan Commission and now apparently facing Teamsters’ opposition.

The commission last week approved the CenterPoint plan despite an unusual urging from a Teamsters representative to delay the project longer. The vote sends the plan to the City Council for a final vote May 17.

The CenterPoint plan to develop 476 acres with up to 2 million square feet of warehouse space along old Brandon Road was tabled two times in December and January after CenterPoint’s opposition to the controversial NorthPoint project was made public.

CenterPoint, which contends NorthPoint agreements with the city clash with agreements previously in place for CenterPoint, poses a potential threat to the NorthPoint project, which city officials and union leaders want to see built.

CenterPoint attorney Chris Spesia told the Plan Commission at its Thursday meeting that the developer wanted a vote one way or the other.

“We’re entitled to proceed to the City Council with a recommendation from the Plan Commission,” Spesia said.

Attorney Chris Spesia speaks at the Joliet Plan Commission meeting. Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Joliet.

Spesia said the traffic studies sought by the Plan Commission in December had been submitted and approved by the city before then and that the current plan was typical of others within the CenterPoint Intermodal Center.

The commission this time voted, 6-0, without comment to recommend approval of the project.

But before the commission voted, it heard from Caprelle Evans, who said she represented Teamsters Local 179 in Joliet and urged the commission to delay a vote again.

Evans expressed concerns about the impact on traffic, environment and quality of life for people in the area.

“This project warrants a thorough study of environmental and social impacts it would have,” she said.

Caprelle Evans of Teamsters 179 speaks at the Joliet Plan Commission meeting. Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Joliet.

Evans said the Teamsters are the leading union for warehouse workers in the United States but that there were concerns about the potential impact of e-commerce warehouses possibly being built at the CenterPoint site.

It was an unusual show of opposition since organized labor, especially building trades unions, have been the strongest supporters of warehouse development. Union leaders have been strong advocates for the NorthPoint project.

Evans was the only person in the filled meeting room to make a statement against the CenterPoint plan. She made no comments later in the meeting while 14 people spoke against the NorthPoint plan to develop 532 acres in the same vicinity.

It would be the start of the 2,300-acre NorthPoint warehouse project, which has faced intense residential opposition and lawsuits attempting to stop it.