Kraft to expand at south side's Airport Center

Kraft Foods Inc., the nation's largest food company, will occupy a nearly 1 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Union City.

Kraft, known for brands such as Oscar Meyer, Nabisco, and Cheez Whiz, chose to locate its new building in Majestic Realty Co.'s Airport Center III.

The new warehouse and distribution center could create up to 200 jobs. The deal involves Majestic developing a new building for Kraft, which had met with developers and brokers during the past several months as the company looked for a nearly 90-acre site.

Kraft, based in Northfield, Ill., looked at several sites on the south side, focusing on properties near the airport. It has an existing distribution center on Best Friend Road in Norcross, but it wants to expand. It needed a large refrigeration component to its new building.

The value of the new Kraft building is said to approach $50 million, comparable to the 1.5 million-square-foot Whirlpool building in Henry County. That facility reportedly brought at least $50,000 a month in additional tax revenue to the county.