Ford has opened a facility in the Commerce Park Chicago industrial campus.

Ford Motor Co. has opened a materials handling facility on the south-east side of Chicago, near its automobile assembly facility.

According to media reports, the new facility, in the Hegewisch community area, is the first of five warehouses NorthPoint Development plans in its nearly USD164 million Commerce Park Chicago industrial campus.

Industrial buildings, particularly e-commerce distribution centres, have been a bright spot in the real estate industry amid otherwise difficult times brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The sprawling site, near the Illinois-Indiana state line, formerly was home to a Republic Steel plant but has been vacant for two decades.