DHL Global Forwarding, the logistics arm of Deutsche Post DHL, last week completed construction of its US$35 million, 491,000-square-foot container freight station in Chicago, which will be the company’s largest cargo facility in the United States.
The three-story building (see artist’s rendering at right), containing both office and warehouse space to hold 500 workers, is located in Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s cargo zone and took about a year to complete. Part of the building has been designated a Foreign Trade Zone, which is a secure area under the supervision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and considered outside the customs territory of the U.S. for the purpose of duty-payment.
The DHL facility has also been validated by the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and is certified by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration as a cargo screening facility. By the second quarter of 2015, the facility is expected to be designated by the Transported Asset Protection Association-Americas, as meeting federal security handling guidelines.
The new facility has also incorporated two temperature-controlled chambers, totaling 10,000 square feet, plus a 999-square-foot ambient-temperature receiving area. These areas, designed to handle pharmaceutical, biotech or medical products, and are one of eight certified Life Sciences Stations that have been completed in the U.S., to date.
In addition, the DHL facility is in the process of obtaining a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a third-party verification program for energy-efficient buildings. Some of its “green” aspects include high-efficient light and water fixtures, use of drought-resistant plants in the landscaping, spaces for bicycle storage and fuel-efficient vehicles, and use of materials with low-emitting indoor-air contaminants, among others.