Officials look to extend rail line at airport to spur growth

Source: Dayton Daily News, OhioOct.迷你倉最平 04--Landing a large distribution center close to the I-70/I-75 interchange has helped reinforce the case to extend a CSX rail line that could make thousands of acres around Dayton International Airport more attractive to industrial development.In September, industrial real estate developer Prologis announced that it closed on 140 acres to build a $90 million distribution center that could employ 1,000 workers for an as-yet unnamed company.The Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District, which assisted Prologis with the closing, also is pursuing state funding for the rail line. It's not yet clear what extent the new facility, or others already here, or airport cargo carriers, would use the rail line connection. But having a rail line in place as a new logistics and distribution hub develops around the airport and interchange would be a strong selling point to lure more industry, Steve Stanley, executive director of the Transportation Improvement District, said.An abandoned spur now extends to I-70 along the eastern side of I-75, and CSX owns land that could be developed in that immediate vicinity. Extending the track could occur in two phases, Stanley said.First, work would be done to rehabilitate the existing spur and extend it about a mile and a half to the airport.Second, a project would extend rail further west where it could touch any number of new facilities. Thousands of acres are available to be developed west of the airport, Stanley said.The first work on the rail line could be put out for bid in 2015, Stanley said, and a second phase extension as soon as 2017. Last week, the state approved $600,000 for preliminary engineering studies next year.The Prologis facility could be up and running by the end of 2014 in the city of Union's 600-acre Global Logistics Airpark.A mostly-vacant 1 million square-foot former Emery and UPS air freight distribution facility with an attached runway would be that much more marketable with a rail line, said Chris Kershner, Vice President of Public Policy with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce who also serves on the state Transportatio儲存 Review and Advisory Council. There is a groundbreaking Friday for the first new business to go in the former Emery and UPS facility.The ultimate goal is a large industrial logistics park similar to one in Plainfield, Indiana, next door to Indianapolis. It is home to Amazon, J.C. Penney, Belkin, Electrolux and Pepsico. Prologis also is a developer involved with that site, which is known as AirTech Park. It is a quickly-developing hub, Stanley said.To that end, government officials in Dayton, Vandalia, Tipp City and Montgomery and Miami counties have been working together to coordinate efforts, he added.Read the complete story...The story you're reading is premium content for subscribers of the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun, Hamilton JournalNews and Middletown Journal. Not a subscriber? Get total access to all our in-depth news and exclusive content here.Read MyDaytonDailyNews.com now -- 24-hour digital pass99? for 24 hoursRead MyDaytonDailyNews.com all week -- weekly digital pass$3.99 per weekSubscribe for as little as 33? per dayView OffersFor Subscribers: Register your account for digital access.Access DigitalFor Subscribers: Sign in here if you have already registered your account.Sign InBrought to you by:ChampionReid HospitalRich RoofingKorrect Plumbing--Dayton International Airport is hosting a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. Friday for SB Specialty Metals LLC, the first new business at the former Emery hub and UPS terminal at Dayton International Airport.Last year, hub owner Industrial Realty Group announced that Dallas-based SB Specialty Metals would move into the hub, which it has dubbed Air Commerce. SB sells and distributes tool steel, high speed steel, powder metallurgy steel, alloy steel and stainless steel for the aerospace, automotive, energy, packaging, medical equipment, recycling, food processing, heavy equipment and knife industries.The facility will employ 25 people with an additional five people in a new grinding center.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at .daytondailynews.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage