As industrial development intensifies in Salt Lake County and space becomes scarce, companies are increasingly looking beyond the shadow of the Oquirrh Mountains to Tooele, the new Mecca for industrial development.
A string of recent announcements highlights this trend. In April, Airgas Inc. announced it would build a specialty gas production facility in Tooele County. In May, outdoor retailer Cabela’s broker ground for a 600,000 square foot regional distribution hub in the Ninigret Depot, an industrial park on Tooele’s west side.
What’s the big draw to Tooele? Wide open spaces, lots of available land, shovel-ready infrastructure and strong transportation bid.
Room to Grow
The Salt Lake Valley is bounded by the Oquirrh Mountains, the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. It’s essentially landlocked. “The land base is definitely eroding,” says Mike Farmer, executive director and industrial specialist for Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce. He says there are only a few sites in the valley large enough for industrial development, “and with each deal that goes down, opportunity is lost.”
On the other hand, land is plentiful in Tooele County. Not only that – but it’s also much cheaper. Farmer says industrial land is Tooele is less than half the price of similar parcels in Salt Lake.
Currently, there are three major industrial developments in Tooele County. After the military exited from a large portion of the Tooele Army Depot, the property came under the control of a redevelopment agency. Commercial interests opened the Utah Industrial Depot in the space vacated by the military. That was later sold to Ninigret Group, a developer with considerable success in the Salt Lake Valley. Ninigret cleaved off half of its interests in Depot to another developer, Roger Peterson, who owns Utah Fabrication, a heavy steel fabrication company and depot tenant since 2000. Peterson acquired most of the established buildings in the depot and created the Peterson Industrial Depot, while Ninigret Group kept most of the developable ground.
Meanwhile, Miller Business Park is located across the street from Miller Motor Sports Park in an enterprise zone between Tooele City and Grantsville. The park comprises about 900 acres of developable land. It was designed for build-to-suit for big box distribution, manufacturing and motor sports uses.
Other developments are in the works as well. Shawn Milne, Tooele County commissioner, says Grantsville has aggressive plans for a large industrial area north of the city and is actively marketing it to business and developers.
Shovel Ready
Infrastructure is a key piece of the puzzle for developers, and Farmer says Tooele is in a good position when it come to electrical infrastructure. Ninigret Depot is considered a “hidden gem” in some circles because it already has infrastructure in place. The depot features more than 2.3 million square feet of building space and more than 810 acres of land. Currently, about 60 tenants operate from the depot, including Detroit Diesel, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Fabrication and Tooele City School District.
Peter Corroon, Ninigret Depot’s managing director, says national and international companies are looking at Ninigret Depot and future announcements could be made regarding new tenants in the near future.
At full build-out, Ninigret Depot and Peterson Industrial Depot are projected to house as many as 2,300 workers. “Tooele County is the next natural place to start developing,” Corroon says. “Industrial space in Salt Lake County is becoming scarce and Tooele County is the next outgrowth for industrial development.”
The Magic 10 Miles
Companies find they can operate from Tooele County and have quick access to the I-80 east-west corridor, 30-minute access to the Salt Lake International Airport, 35-minutes access to downtown Salt Lake City and the I-15 north-south and I-84 east corridors, and easy intermodal access.
Milne notes that Tooele County is closer to the Salt Lake metro area than most people realize. The geographical boundary of the Oquirrh Mountains used to cast a shadow in some people’s eyes, he says, but it actually takes less time for Milne to get downtown or to the Sugar House area from where he lives in Tooele City than it did when he lived in Sandy.
And new transportation projects are underway. A new road was built to Ninigret Depot, allowing trucks entering and existing the depot to have more direct access to SR-36 and I-80.
Future transportation plans include the construction of the Midvalley Highway from SR-36 in Tooele City to a new interchange near I-80. The highway will be built in three phases and will eventually place the Ninigret and Peterson Industrial within what Milne calls the “magic 10 miles” to major highway access.
Milne describes the Midvalley Highway as a truck route from I-80 down the middle of the valley through Tooele City’s newly established Business Research Park. It will create a belt route that will circumvent much of the consumer and residential traffic and stop lights that currently inhibit traffic into the industrial area. Milne says he sees the new truck route as an economic development priority that is crucial to the Tooele County economy.
A Commuter Workforce
Tooele City, Grantsville City and Tooele County all offer economic development incentive packages for industrial development. “We also have a large readily available workforce,” Milne says. Between 40 and 60 percent of that workforce commutes to the Salt Lake County metro area for work, “but they would love to have jobs closer to home,” he says.
Walmart questioned the size and capabilities of Tooele County’s workforce 11 years ago, before the retailer opened its huge distribution center in an industrial area near Grantsville. Milne says Walmart found the county not only had the workforce numbers required, but the workers also exceeded the company’s expectations in terms of their work ethic.
“That same scenario played out again recently with the decision by Cabela’s to open its distribution center in Tooele County,” he adds. “The company had been operating out of the former Reckitt Benkiser building in the Miller Business Park. Cabela’s wanted to try out our workforce before going full bore with an investment in a new facility in our county. Again, our workforce exceeded their expectations in terms of dependability, dedication, loyalty and aptitude.”
Farmer points out that on average, labor is also less expensive in Tooele County. And when you add incentive packages into the mix, labor really begins to look like a good deal. Incentives for development typically require companies to pay their workers an average of 125 percent of the average county wage – and this multiplier makes labor that much more expensive in Salt Lake County, compared with Tooele.
“It’s fair to say I’m bullish on Tooele,” says Farmer. “If you had a wish list of what everybody wants – land, labor, infrastructure – it’s all there.”
Tooele is a Hidden Gem to the West of the Oquirrh Mountains by Gaylen Webb
As industrial development intensifies in Salt Lake County and space becomes scarce, companies are increasingly looking beyond the shadow of the Oquirrh Mountains to Tooele, the new Mecca for industrial development.
A string of recent announcements highlights this trend. In April, Airgas Inc. announced it would build a specialty gas production facility in Tooele County. In May, outdoor retailer Cabela’s broker ground for a 600,000 square foot regional distribution hub in the Ninigret Depot, an industrial park on Tooele’s west side.
What’s the big draw to Tooele? Wide open spaces, lots of available land, shovel-ready infrastructure and strong transportation bid.
Room to Grow
The Salt Lake Valley is bounded by the Oquirrh Mountains, the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. It’s essentially landlocked. “The land base is definitely eroding,” says Mike Farmer, executive director and industrial specialist for Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce. He says there are only a few sites in the valley large enough for industrial development, “and with each deal that goes down, opportunity is lost.”
On the other hand, land is plentiful in Tooele County. Not only that – but it’s also much cheaper. Farmer says industrial land is Tooele is less than half the price of similar parcels in Salt Lake.
Currently, there are three major industrial developments in Tooele County. After the military exited from a large portion of the Tooele Army Depot, the property came under the control of a redevelopment agency. Commercial interests opened the Utah Industrial Depot in the space vacated by the military. That was later sold to Ninigret Group, a developer with considerable success in the Salt Lake Valley. Ninigret cleaved off half of its interests in Depot to another developer, Roger Peterson, who owns Utah Fabrication, a heavy steel fabrication company and depot tenant since 2000. Peterson acquired most of the established buildings in the depot and created the Peterson Industrial Depot, while Ninigret Group kept most of the developable ground.
Meanwhile, Miller Business Park is located across the street from Miller Motor Sports Park in an enterprise zone between Tooele City and Grantsville. The park comprises about 900 acres of developable land. It was designed for build-to-suit for big box distribution, manufacturing and motor sports uses.
Other developments are in the works as well. Shawn Milne, Tooele County commissioner, says Grantsville has aggressive plans for a large industrial area north of the city and is actively marketing it to business and developers.
Shovel Ready
Infrastructure is a key piece of the puzzle for developers, and Farmer says Tooele is in a good position when it come to electrical infrastructure. Ninigret Depot is considered a “hidden gem” in some circles because it already has infrastructure in place. The depot features more than 2.3 million square feet of building space and more than 810 acres of land. Currently, about 60 tenants operate from the depot, including Detroit Diesel, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Fabrication and Tooele City School District.
Peter Corroon, Ninigret Depot’s managing director, says national and international companies are looking at Ninigret Depot and future announcements could be made regarding new tenants in the near future.
At full build-out, Ninigret Depot and Peterson Industrial Depot are projected to house as many as 2,300 workers. “Tooele County is the next natural place to start developing,” Corroon says. “Industrial space in Salt Lake County is becoming scarce and Tooele County is the next outgrowth for industrial development.”
The Magic 10 Miles
Companies find they can operate from Tooele County and have quick access to the I-80 east-west corridor, 30-minute access to the Salt Lake International Airport, 35-minutes access to downtown Salt Lake City and the I-15 north-south and I-84 east corridors, and easy intermodal access.
Milne notes that Tooele County is closer to the Salt Lake metro area than most people realize. The geographical boundary of the Oquirrh Mountains used to cast a shadow in some people’s eyes, he says, but it actually takes less time for Milne to get downtown or to the Sugar House area from where he lives in Tooele City than it did when he lived in Sandy.
And new transportation projects are underway. A new road was built to Ninigret Depot, allowing trucks entering and existing the depot to have more direct access to SR-36 and I-80.
Future transportation plans include the construction of the Midvalley Highway from SR-36 in Tooele City to a new interchange near I-80. The highway will be built in three phases and will eventually place the Ninigret and Peterson Industrial within what Milne calls the “magic 10 miles” to major highway access.
Milne describes the Midvalley Highway as a truck route from I-80 down the middle of the valley through Tooele City’s newly established Business Research Park. It will create a belt route that will circumvent much of the consumer and residential traffic and stop lights that currently inhibit traffic into the industrial area. Milne says he sees the new truck route as an economic development priority that is crucial to the Tooele County economy.
A Commuter Workforce
Tooele City, Grantsville City and Tooele County all offer economic development incentive packages for industrial development. “We also have a large readily available workforce,” Milne says. Between 40 and 60 percent of that workforce commutes to the Salt Lake County metro area for work, “but they would love to have jobs closer to home,” he says.
Walmart questioned the size and capabilities of Tooele County’s workforce 11 years ago, before the retailer opened its huge distribution center in an industrial area near Grantsville. Milne says Walmart found the county not only had the workforce numbers required, but the workers also exceeded the company’s expectations in terms of their work ethic.
“That same scenario played out again recently with the decision by Cabela’s to open its distribution center in Tooele County,” he adds. “The company had been operating out of the former Reckitt Benkiser building in the Miller Business Park. Cabela’s wanted to try out our workforce before going full bore with an investment in a new facility in our county. Again, our workforce exceeded their expectations in terms of dependability, dedication, loyalty and aptitude.”
Farmer points out that on average, labor is also less expensive in Tooele County. And when you add incentive packages into the mix, labor really begins to look like a good deal. Incentives for development typically require companies to pay their workers an average of 125 percent of the average county wage – and this multiplier makes labor that much more expensive in Salt Lake County, compared with Tooele.
“It’s fair to say I’m bullish on Tooele,” says Farmer. “If you had a wish list of what everybody wants – land, labor, infrastructure – it’s all there.”