The Opus Group (Opus) announces the completion of the North Star Sheets building at Southeast Industrial Park in collaboration withHillcrest Development, LLLP (Hillcrest). The 161,000-square-foot rail-served building sits on 16 acres and will be occupied entirely by North Star Sheets, a producer of corrugated paper products for manufacturing needs.
“We’re pleased to welcome North Star Sheets to the Southeast Industrial Park,” said Phil Cattanach, senior director, Opus Development Company, L.L.C. “The collaboration with Hillcrest and the City of Cottage Grove was critical to ensure that North Star Sheets was fully operational in just seven months.”
This build-to-suit project broke ground in March 2018 and is the first building in a multiphase 38-acre rail-served industrial development in Cottage Grove. The development is located just south of US Highway 61, offering easy access to major freeway systems.
“North Star Sheets is glad to be an addition to the community,” said, Paul Smith, general manager, North Star Sheets. “The investment in the state-of-the-art equipment and the site will provide employment opportunities into the future. We’re currently providing about 50 jobs onsite and are already looking to expand our workforce.”
The site was certified as shovel-ready by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), allowing North Star Sheets to resolve time-consuming hurdles well in advance of breaking ground. Additionally, in order to meet the tight project timeline, the City of Cottage Grove collaborated with Opus and the project team to ensure North Star Sheets would have the ability to install critical equipment needed for its operations during building construction. Opus’ ability to accommodate these needs while maintaining high safety standards allowed for a much faster and smoother transition for operations to commence upon the building’s completion.
“We appreciate the cohesiveness and high-level of competence of the entire team in completing Phase 1 of the development of Southeast Industrial Park,” said Scott Tankenoff, managing partner, Hillcrest Development, LLLP. “Specifically, the City of Cottage Grove showed leadership and ability to make decisions every step of the way.”
“The investment that Hillcrest has made in establishing the Southeast Industrial Park has been wonderful for the City of Cottage Grove. Hillcrest’s investment in the City of Cottage Grove has resulted in a great partnership with The Opus Group and brought North Star Sheets to our community,” said Myron Bailey, Mayor, Cottage Grove. “I look forward to seeing what’s next for the Southeast Industrial Park and cannot say enough great things about the work Hillcrest and Opus have done in Cottage Grove. They have a collaborative approach to development that produces successful projects.”
