Container shipping line APL, which is part of Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., said it will build a new intermodal terminal in Joliet, Ill.
The June 30 announcement by APL, also known in the market as American President Lines, said it has purchased 43 acres from CenterPoint Properties, a real estate development firm that is developing the CenterPoint Intermodal Center.
CenterPoint’s project, covering 2,500 acres, already has customers such as BNSF Railway, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ocean carrier Maersk Line and building products manufacturer Georgia Pacific.
“The purchase of this land is in line with APL’s long-term strategic objectives. APL has a strong transcontinental intermodal network in the U.S., and we want to build on that strength,” said APL Americas President Gene Seroka.
The facility is being developed on land formerly occupied by the Joliet Arsenal, a now-abandoned military facility.
In addition to the BNSF access, the new facility being built by APL, the seventh-largest international container line, will be located close to Union Pacific Railroad. Both railroads haul APL freight.
Customer warehouse and distribution centers also are located near the CenterPoint location that is about 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
APL’s new facility will be known as its Chicago Global Gateway. It will have equipment maintenance capabilities, facilities to service refrigerated containers and automated technology at its terminal gates.
The new facility is intended to eventually replace the existing APL Chicago terminal, which has been in service since 1985, when APL first began to operate double-stack container trains linking the Midwest with West Coast ports to move Asian imports.
