Hillwood Antes Up Cash, Expertise and Maybe Space for iFulfillment Operation

FT. WORTH-Hillwood is poised to put up equity, real estate expertise and a prime spot at Alliance to Chicago-based iFulfillment Inc., an IT retail logistics provider. Jonas Woods, Hillwood’s executive vice president and president of Hillwood Ventures, says the pairing has triggered talks for a possible 500,000-sf high-tech operation in Alliance’s Gateway or Westport corridors. “We think Alliance is perfectly suited to this type of project,” Woods tells GlobeSt.com. The goal is to seal a deal on an Alliance site in first quarter 2001. It’s also possible that the IT fulfillment operator for such brands as Nordstrom’s and Golden Books could be housed with an existing Alliance company, one such as FedEx where a mail-handling system already is in place, he says.

If an Alliance deal is consummated, the location hinges on iFulfillment’s transportation mode, says Woods. Westport is located in Alliance’s intermodal yard, a facility anchored by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe whereas Gateway is tailored for over-the-road transports. At present, most of iFulfillment’s incoming goods from its half dozen clients are primarily shipped by truck, with a small parcel service used for the outgoing packages, Jeff Woods, iFulfillment’s vice president of strategy, tells GlobeSt.com.

Woods of iFulfillment is declining to discuss specifics of an Alliance location, but did say that another high-tech logistics facility is in the offing for the fledgling firm, which had opened a 350,000-sf industrial site in June in Bolingbrook, IL. That site currently employs about 80, but has a maximum capacity for 400 to 500 workers.