John O'Leary is the executive director of the Office of Urban Development in Grand Forks. What's significant about a distribution center of this size is that it creates the equivalent of 200 new homes in Grand Forks in terms of our tax base. That's important for the city, which is still rebuilding its economy after the historic flood of 1997. O'Leary says the warehouse is being proposed by the local growth fund, an economic development group supported by a portion of the city's sales tax. O'Leary says this is an opportunity for the city to become an e-commerce player in a rapidly changing larger economy.
Critics worry the project is too optimistic.
They also point to a letter local bankers sent O'Leary saying they're wary of lending the project money. I don't think so. Our track record of leasing out spaces that we've already constructed is very good. Still, not everyone is reassured by O'Leary's outlook. With fishing, if you set up your tackle and entire strategy to catch small fish and you go places where small fish are caught, that's what you're going to get - small fish.