Entire county seeing new developments

DeKalb County Economic Development Corp. Board President Tim Struthers speaks at the group’s meeting Tuesday at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Chronicle photo HOLLY LUNDH

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SYCAMORE - From Kirkland and DeKalb to Somonauk and Maple Park, just about every community in DeKalb County is seeing some form of new development at its outskirts or reinvestment in its downtown. During the DeKalb County Economic Development Corp.'s 15th annual State of the County presentation Tuesday night at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, the group's executive director, Roger Hopkins, highlighted a range of construction projects - everything from the expansion of the now-tiny Malta Township Library to a new 1.5 million-square-foot Target warehouse in DeKalb. And whereas just a few years ago, DeKalb and Sycamore were seeing the vast majority of home-building activity in the county, Hopkins on Tuesday could point to new subdivisions being built or on the drawing board in places like Waterman, Shabbona and Kirkland. &#8220It's amazing. When you bring homes into the market, the retail economy seems to respond,” he said, speaking of the impact residential development appears to be having on revitalizing Kirkland's downtown, for example. Downtown Sandwich &#8220has really turned into a gingerbread and boutiquey” area, he said, and that's a good fit for a city whose fairgrounds are home to regular antique markets. In Genoa, The National Bank & Trust Co. has opened a branch, and the city got its first traditional supermarket when Brown's County Market opened. 84 Lumber also is open there, and &#8220hopefully next year they'll be building their truss plant,” Hopkins said. In Sycamore, there are plans to build a shopping center anchored by a Jewel grocery store on the west side of Route 23 where Peace Road becomes Plank Road. The project would be the latest addition to a corner that recently has seen the development of a strip of retail and office space that includes a liquor store and a dentist's office. The Target project is the 800-pound gorilla in DeKalb and countywide. Located in the Park 88 industrial park on the city's south side, the warehousing building is 35 acres under one roof, along with a 40-acre parking lot and 140 docking doors, Hopkins said. And &#8220there are active prospects for those other sites in Park 88,” he added. Following his presentation, Hopkins highlighted some trends in the county's economic development, as well as some highlights and lowlights of the past year. &#8220The one trend that I've been concerned about all year long is the lack of job growth,” he said. Job growth was stagnant or declining in 2005, but he added that most of the expected hires were to come this spring at places like Target, a new 3M facility and Johnson Controls. He said the county could see as many as 1,000 jobs added by the end of 2006. Successes in 2005 included decisions by Fullco Industries and All Pro Plumbing to purchase buildings in the Sycamore Prairie Business Park, and 3M's decision to expand on the campus of the former Caterpillar plant at Peace and Barber Greene roads. Disappointments included the failure to increase the pace of logistics and warehousing development in the county, Hopkins said. He also said his group has been seeing &#8220massive amounts of land speculation,” and that it's not uncommon for undeveloped land at the edge of a city to go for $25,000 an acre. Chris Rickert can be reached at crickert@daily-chronicle.com.