Jacquet Midwest, a stainless steel and nickel alloy processing company that has a location in Racine, will invest $12 million in the Southside Industrial Park to construct two buildings.
Based in Lyon, France, Jacquet Metal Service owns Jacquet Midwest. The company does plasma cutting, water-jet and laser cutting on specialty steels.
The Racine Redevelopment Authority, which owns the land, is selling 10 acres in the Southside Industrial Park for $250,000. While the Southside Industrial Park is in a tax incremental finance district, the company has not asked for financial assistance for the project.
The company plans to construct two buildings on the property totaling 109,000 square-feet in a two-phase process. Jacquet Midwest currently employs 19 people. Once the buildings are completed, the company expects to employ 30 people.
“Racine has always been a great place to do business — especially for manufacturers,” said Racine Mayor Corey Mason. “In 2007, Jacquet chose Racine and more than a decade later, they’re affirming that choice by once again investing in this community.”
History of the property
Previously owned by Jacobsen/Textron, the property featured industrial buildings. The company manufactured high-end lawnmowers for golf courses. Jacobsen ceased operations in 2001.
The Racine Redevelopment Authority and the City acquired the property in 2004 and razed the buildings. The City oversaw site remediation of the contaminated property with financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“A big part of the city’s strategy from the beginning was to invest its public dollars in the site to make it shovel-ready again. So it took — between environmental remediation and new infrastructure — a lot of the money,” said Jim Palenick, city administrator. “So the incentives really came from preparing the site.”
The site has an existing parking lot, sidewalks, and fire hydrants.
Completed in 2004, the site sat empty — until now.
“We’ve got a local company that is here and will expand here. And they are investing $12 million for a permanent building, which we think it’s really exciting,” Mason said.
Jacquet announces building plans
Officials with Jacquet said they plan to expand their operations in the Midwest. The company currently operates out of a 40,000 square-foot leased space at 1908 DeKoven Ave.
“Since opening in September 2007, our location in Racine has allowed us to provide the service-oriented stainless and nickel alloy processing with fast turnaround our customers expect,” said Dan Chatterson, chief executive officer and manager of Jacquet Midwest. “Our new investment will add to Jacquet Midwest’s processing and warehouse capacity to better serve our client base.”
The Racine Redevelopment Authority will consider the proposed sale at its meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Once approved, construction is expected to begin the first phase of the project. That phase includes erecting a 54,000 square-foot building immediately. It is expected to be completed in 2019. The second phase, which includes building a 55,000 square-foot building, is expected to be completed within five months.
There are two adjacent sites in the Southside Industrial Park that are not part of the Jacquet acquistion. Mason said the City is always talking to developers, but he’s excited about the possibility that other projects may be coming down the road.