ELWOOD AND MANHATTAN, ILLINOIS — Developer NorthPoint plans to nearly double warehouse capacity in the region by acquiring about 4,000 acres of farmland and residential areas near Manhattan, Illinois, prompting legal challenges from local residents. The proposed expansion would increase the number of trucks operating in the area and affect homes less than 10 miles from the development site.
NorthPoint’s acquisition targets land adjacent to the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, the largest inland port in North America, located southwest of Chicago. The logistics hub receives imported goods from West Coast ports and delivers them into the American heartland, handling more than 3 million shipping containers annually carrying an estimated $100 billion in goods.
Adam Roth, leasing agent for CenterPoint Intermodal Center and executive vice president of NAI Hiffman, defended the growth of logistics infrastructure. “People say Walmart is really a logistics company disguised as a retailer. That’s how important logistics is now,” Roth said. He added, “You are in the heartbeat of the country here.” Roth also recalled his father telling him, “It’s really interesting that we eat better than pharaohs did. Because they ate whatever was in season, whatever they could get their hands on. Whereas we can go and get almost anything, even more, any time of the year.”
Residents of Manhattan, Illinois, have pushed back against the expansion. Ron Adamski, a Gulf War veteran and retired air traffic controller who moved to the area seven years ago seeking rural quietude, said, “A quiet community, great people. They take care of each other, always willing to help out. It’s that type of community – and we’re getting swallowed up by outside forces.”
John Kieken, who has lived in Manhattan for nearly 40 years and founded the tech company Midwestern Industries, added, “Go outside day or night, and all you hear are the sounds of either farming or nature. You don’t hear the trucks. You don’t hear the sounds of a city. And this is going to change all that.”
Legal challenges filed by Kieken and Adamski have already disrupted NorthPoint’s land acquisition efforts, causing some residents’ sales agreements to fall apart. The CenterPoint Intermodal Center currently spans 10 square miles and is served by two Class I railroads and two interstate highways.