Got an underutilized commercial building someplace in Kane County?

If so, you could do a great service to your community — and fill your vacancy at the same time — simply by reading the rest of this post.

Kane County is seeking to identify potential buildings to house a food hub, anticipated to be in operation within the next few years. The Food Hub Project team will be releasing a Site Search Request for Information (RFI) to help generate a list of potential facilities within Kane County where the hub could eventually be located.

The list of potential buildings then will be made available to assist candidates seeking to own and/or operate the food hub.

OK, What’s a Food Hub?

A food hub is an entity that aggregates and distributes food products from local, small- to mid-sized farms to satisfy wholesale demand. The release of the RFI follows the completion of a Food Hub Feasibility Study, which assessed the market potential and operating structure of a food hub enterprise in Kane County.

The RFI includes a list of building criteria based on the results of the feasibility study. Those criteria include, but are not limited to:

• Building size — Buildings of between 4,000 and 12,000 square feet with a ceiling height of 25 feet or more.
• Basic operation — Space uses would include cold storage, dry storage, office and processing equipment.
• Docks and parking lot — two or three loading docks with a 20-foot bay. About 20 parking spaces and lot area to accommodate the turning radii of a semi-truck.

The RFI document includes additional background information along with a brief set of questions to correspond with any potential buildings that you feel would be appropriate to add to the site list. Interested respondents might include economic development officials, commercial real estate managers, and others with knowledge of commercial facilities in Kane County that could fulfill the needs of a food hub operation, said Kane County Land Use Planner Matt Tansley, who is spearheading the food-hub project.

“This could be a great opportunity for communities looking fill a vacant or underutilized commercial building with a food aggregation and distribution enterprise,” Tansley said.

To register to receive the RFI document, please contact the Kane County Purchasing Department at purchasing@co.kane.il.us. All related questions can also be directed to the Purchasing Department.

Read More

• Farmer’s Markets and Food Hubs: Healthy Food in Kane County
• Ambitious ‘FARM Illinois’ Could Put Kane County in Center of Global Food Hub
• High Drama, High Stakes as Kane County Makes Shark-Tank-Style Pitch in $500,000 Food to Market Challenge
• Kane County Is Finalist in $500,000 ‘Food to Market Challenge’ Contest