Feeding frenzy

Riley hustles to finish food warehouse

Once completed, Affiliated Foods Midwest’s distribution warehouse will include 400,000 square feet of dry-storage warehouse and an additional 300,000-plus square feet of cooler and freezer space. Photos submitted by Riley Construction Co. Inc.

Project Name Affiliated Foods Midwest distribution warehouse Location: Kenosha Owner: Affiliated Foods Midwest General Contractor: Riley Construction Co. Inc., Kenosha Architect: Harris Architects Inc., Palatine, Ill. Project Cost: $90 million Start Date: April 14 Scheduled completion: Dec. 19

Rising transportation costs and logistical concerns made serving growing markets in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa from warehouses in Nebraska and Kansas a problem for Affiliated Foods Midwest.

The solution? A new 731,000-square-foot, centrally located distribution warehouse in Kenosha.

To take full advantage of the rapidly expanding markets, however, Affiliated Foods wants the warehouse project, which started in April, to be completed before the end of the year.

Tom Riley, president of Riley Construction Co. Inc., the Kenosha-based general contractor on the warehouse, said keeping to the project’s eight-month timeline has been difficult. The weather, too, provided extra challenges, he said. Each rainfall this spring stalled the project for one or two days as the ground dried.

Precast wall panels waited in storage until the weather cooperated, but Riley said once they began going up, the process was fast.

“We thought we would have very little issues with soils,” Riley said. “But it turned out so wet this spring, and we had so much precipitation over the winter that the ground was saturated, so we had to do soil remediation.”

Riley Construction has a heavy workload for the eight-month project.

Once completed, the warehouse, which is on a 100-acre site, will feature more than 400,000 square feet of dry-storage warehouse and an additional 300,000-plus square feet of cooler and freezer space.

Riley said the floors, which are engineered to handle large loads of pallets up to 40 feet high, have to be very flat.

Other building specifications include specific fire protection for food storage, security measures and a generator to run critical systems in case of power loss.

A total of 66 loading docks will be installed so trucks can unload easily.

Affiliated Foods Midwest President Martin Arter said the company evaluated several sites but chose Kenosha because of its growing population, strong business climate and the availability of a convenient and accessible site along Interstate 94.

The warehouse is expected to house 450 employees. Riley Construction is working to complete three offsite road improvements, which involve adding turn lanes and traffic signals, at highways 158 and H in Kenosha to deal with the projected increase in traffic.

Riley said contractors need to stay on schedule.

“Right now, the really critical portion of the job is getting all the underground site utilities done so we can put down asphalt and pavement before the weather turns again,” Riley said.

— Melissa Rigney Baxter