Quincy City Council to vote on proposed construction of distribution facility next week (but don’t say ‘A-word’ just yet)

August 28, 2024 | By David Adam, MRN Editor

A truck drives west on Wismann Lane past the intersection with 43rd Street late Tuesday afternoon in Quincy. The Plan Commission unanimously approved a recommendation from the City of Quincy’s planning and development department for the proposed construction of a warehousing/distribution facility on the north side of Wismann Lane. | David Adam

QUINCY — The Plan Commission unanimously approved a recommendation from the City of Quincy’s planning and development department for the proposed construction of a warehousing/distribution facility at 4301 Wismann Lane.

The proposal now goes to the Quincy City Council, which will have an opportunity to vote on it during its Tuesday, Sept. 3 meeting.

Assistant Planning Director Jason Parrott made a presentation to the Plan Commission. Dustyn Curran of Des Moines, Iowa, a director of real estate development for Ryan Companies, headquartered in Minneapolis, also spoke briefly to the group as the petitioner for the proposal.

When chairwoman Julie Brink asked the Plan Commission members if they had questions for Curran, Greg Fletcher — also a Republican alderman in the city’s 1^st Ward — piped up.

“Are you disclosing who the tenant will be?” he asked.

“We are not naming the user at this time,” Curran replied.

“But you do have a tenant?” Fletcher asked.

“We do,” Curran said.

A staff review by the Department of Planning and Development given to members of the Plan Commission on Tuesday night shows a depiction of a proposed development at 4301 Wismann Lane. The blue line indicates a property line. The red line shows where the proposed warehousing and distribution facility will be built. The yellow line indicates a parking/delivery lot. The green line shows a parking lot for employees. The purple line indicates entrances and exits to the property. | Photo courtesy of Department of Planning and Development

Ryan Companies calls itself a “full-service real estate firm” that offers construction, architecture, engineering, development, management and capital markets services. A list of recently completed projects (with photos) is displayed on its website. The list includes Amazon distribution centers or fulfillment centers built in Woodbury, Minn., Fayetteville, N.C., Venice, Fla., Bondurant, Iowa, Markham, Ill., and Chicago.

Asked after the meeting how many Amazon facilities have been built by Ryan Companies, Curran replied, “Ryan Companies has done many. You can see them on our website for that particular client.”

Throughout the meeting, neither Curran, Parrott nor anyone on the Plan Commission ever said the “A-word.”

(By this point in the story, hopefully most of you have done the math.)

Curran’s only comment to the aldermen was to thank the city and the staff for collaboration on the project.

“I can’t give you anything other than what we’ve discussed today,” Curran said to the media after the meeting.

The proposed facility would be built on a 22.4-acre parcel of land on the north side of Wismann Lane between 42^nd and 45^th Streets — 1½ miles outside of the city limits but within the city’s jurisdiction. The property is zoned M3 (planned industrial). Information from the Adams County GIS map shows the property is currently owned by Brent C. Mast and Jacqueline A. Mast.

Parrott’s report noted city staff members and county representatives have met several times with Ryan Companies regarding the project. A site plan review was conducted on Aug. 1. A revised site plan has been submitted for review by the developer. An approved site plan is required before the issuance of a building permit.

Neither the cost nor the size of the proposed building was discussed during Parrott’s presentation.