ALTON, ILL. – American Water Works Co., Inc., the largest publicly traded water service provider in the United States, has agreed to locate its new national customer service center at Alton Center Business Park in downtown Alton, Ill. American Water Works becomes the first tenant to commit to Alton Center, a 153-acre redevelopment that has the capacity to host more than one million square feet of new and renovated office, retail, warehouse and high-tech manufacturing space. The developer is Clark Properties, St. Louis, Mo.
American Water Works will lease 42,551 square feet of space in the Alton
Center I building now being renovated at 1610 Discovery Parkway by design/builder Clayco Construction Co. Occupancy is scheduled for April 2001.
The Voorhees, N.J.-based company projects that it will employ 325 people at the center when full staffing is achieved. The center will handle service calls, billing and collections for the company’s 10 million customers in 23 states including Illinois-American Water Co. and Missouri-American Water Co. based in St. Louis County, Mo. The center is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2001, when it will replace service centers American Water Works now operates across the nation.
A key factor that enabled Alton to rank in the top five of the more than 1,300 cities originally considered by the company was its high-quality, available work force.
John Bigelow, vice president of business services for American Water Works, said the primary reasons it chose Alton Center were its proximity to the downtown Alton central business district, the quality of the business park’s telecommunications infrastructure and the ability of Clark Properties to deliver a high-tech, high-finish business environment on an accelerated schedule.
“Our goal was to achieve a first-class business environment that would enhance the productivity of our associates, the ability to serve our customers and meet our future growth needs,” said Bigelow. “Alton Center satisfied all those requirements.”
Michael H. Clark, president of Clark Properties, said the new call center is designed to meet today’s “computer-at-every-workstation” requirements with a raised floor, dual fiber optic telecom spine, redundant power feeds and digitally controlled energy management/climate control service.
“American Water Works is representative of one of the primary user groups we are targeting at Alton Center -- a high-density employer seeking top-drawer, super-functional space at an economical price,” Clark stated.
We are delighted that American Water Works decided to lead the way at Alton Center Business Park,” said Alton Mayor Donald Sandidge. “When we celebrated the park’s ground breaking last June, we projected that it could bring up to 1,000 new jobs to Alton. This announcement puts us one-third of the way to that goal.”
Because Alton Center is located within a state enterprise zone, American Water Works will qualify for exemptions from taxes on utility usage and sales taxes on building materials used in construction. The water company is also receiving a substantial grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) through its Linked Development Grant Program for capital costs associated with infrastructure needs. “The multiple forms of assistance provided by the state of Illinois helped make this project a reality. The city of Alton is thankful for the state’s support, from the Governor to our legislators,” Sandidge stated.
Park Development on Schedule
Alton Center is the redevelopment of the former Owens-Illinois, Inc. glass bottle plant that was closed in 1992. The Alton Center I building that will host American Water Works has been renovated for multi-tenant use and has approximately 400,000 square feet remaining available for lease. Additionally, more than one million square feet of dilapidated buildings have been razed in the past six months, creating approximately 100 acres for new development. Norfolk Southern Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad serve the business park, which is also accessible to the Mississippi River.
Clark projects that a variety of tenants will be drawn to Alton Center, including light industrial, warehouse, office and retail users.
“The decision of American Water Works to become part of Alton Center affirms our belief that there is substantial unmet demand across the region for high-quality, price-advantaged commercial space in a well-located, renovated venue,” said Clark.
Joining Clark Properties in the marketing of Alton Center is Alton-based T.L. Prehn Properties, Inc.
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