Nestle Purina setting up distribution center in Davenport

The 95-acre Russell Industrial Park in northwest Davenport is getting a new business neighbor. Nestle Purina soon will begin leasing a 301,320-square-foot building in that park at 8730  Northwest Boulevard. The pet food and pet product company will start leasing what is now called Building 6 beginning Dec. 1. It will use the building as […]

The 95-acre Russell Industrial Park in northwest Davenport is getting a new business neighbor. Nestle Purina soon will begin leasing a 301,320-square-foot building in that park at 8730  Northwest Boulevard. The pet food and pet product company will start leasing what is now called Building 6 beginning Dec. 1. It will use the building as a temporary distribution center to assist with Nestle Purina operations in Clinton, Iowa, according to Michael Zerman, a communications official with Nestle Purina. “Our Purina team will utilize this building largely as an interim distribution center, shipping items produced in our Clinton facility to other Purina factories to allow them to service more consumers with a diverse product mix,” Mr. Zerman told the QCBJ. Nestle Purina did not indicate how long it will lease the building for a distribution center. In the coming weeks, Nestle Purina workers will be making some upgrades to the massive building to make it better accommodate the distribution center work.

The new industrial park, being developed and built by Davenport-based Russell, now consists of three buildings with three additional buildings being planned.  Mr. Zerman added that the company will be working with Russell “to finish off the building to fit our needs, to include additional dock doors, trailer parking, offices and employee areas.” Nestle Purina representatives said they do not yet know how many employees will work in the new distribution center. They also have not disclosed how much of a financial investment the new center is for the company. But what is clear is that the new distribution center is needed after two massive expansion plans at the Clinton Nestle Purina plant. Company officials announced last year the completion of a $156 million expansion plan that added new cooking and packaging lines and other improvements to the plant. And then in January, it announced an additional $110 million investment in the company to build a 90,000-square-foot building to support  expansion projects at the facility.  That second expansion phase, expected to be completed in late 2025,  will add automated warehousing systems and the capacity for an additional 50,000 unit loads for storage once completed. Nestle Purina employs a total of about 1,300 people at its three Iowa facilities located in Davenport, Clinton and Fort Dodge. Mr. Zerman called the Davenport distribution center a “short-term need to expand our warehousing and product storage capacity in Clinton to better serve consumers.” Nestle Purina officials said two of the main reasons they were attracted to the Russell Industrial Park center around the high quality of the building, and the location. The building is located near Interstate 80 making it convenient for delivery traffic coming to and from the building. “The roadways here are upgraded for semi traffic. … It’s all designed well for truck traffic circulation,” said Damen Trebilcock, vice president of development at Russell. Mr. Trebilcock added that the deal with Nestle Purina illustrates that the industrial park has been a good business venture for Russell as “leasing activities have been very high” in the business community. “It was a risk to bring this (industrial park) to market, but it has been doing well,” he said. In fact, it has been doing so well that more buildings are in the works beyond the existing three. Construction on a fourth building, which will be about 301,320 square feet, is expected to begin  in late November and be complete next fall. There are also plans to build two additional buildings in the future, Mr. Trebilcock added. The Russell vice president said all the buildings in the park are designed to be “cut up” in the interior and house two or more businesses. However, in the case of Nestle Purina, Russell is happy to accommodate one business moving into one massive building. With Nestle impending move into Russell’s 301,320-square-foot building, all three industrial park buildings have been leased. The park’s Building 1, which has 80,000 square feet, is being leased by three businesses – PODS, Tube and Solid Tire, and Crescent Electric. Building 2, which has 251,000 square feet, is being leased by Ryder Logistics Services.