After a few years of post-pandemic stagnation, Lake County is once again seeing investment dollars being pumped into the local economy. Leading this renaissance is often-overlooked North Chicago.
The rush of capital into North Chicago began earlier this month when the City Council voted unanimously to turn four abandoned properties along Route 41 into a 7.7-acre, full-service travel center for commercial drivers and motorists.
The Compass Travel Center project, expected to open by year’s end, is a $10 million investment by Compass Holding based in Clarendon Hills, in South Suburban Cook County.
North Chicago officials, in a statement, said the 11,365-square-foot center will include a convenience store, video gaming lounge, drivers’ lounge with couches and showers, a full-service restaurant, and a quick-service restaurant with a drive-through window. It will have 20 passenger-vehicle fueling stations and five diesel fueling stations.
“This redevelopment represents exactly the kind of strategic investment we want to see in North Chicago,” Mayor Leon Rockingham said. “Replacing abandoned structures with a $10 million, job-creating development strengthens our tax base, improves a key gateway into the city … turning blight into opportunity.”
The city, too, is moving on the long-awaited repurposing of the 41-acre brownfield near the northwest corner of Sheridan Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, near Naval Station Great Lakes. The Sheridan Crossing location has been sitting fallow for decades while officials have mulled what to do with the city-owned property. Plans are in the works for the site’s remediation.
AbbVie, Inc., the global biopharmaceutical leader, earlier this week made it a development trifecta for the city, announcing a $380 million investment at its sprawling campus along Sheridan Road. The company will build two new facilities to expand pharmaceutical ingredient production in the U.S.
Indeed, AbbVie’s announcement means it is committed to remaining in North Chicago. Construction jobs will be needed for the two projects, and the company said it expects to hire 300 new workers — engineers, scientists, manufacturing operators and lab technicians — once build-out is complete. AbbVie currently employs more than 11,500 in the region and has 29,000 across the nation.
Groundbreaking is planned for this spring with the state-of-the-art facilities, which will support the production of next-generation neuroscience and obesity medicines, slated to be fully operational in 2029. The company — known for its Humira and Skyrizi pharmaceuticals and others — said the investment also marks continued funding of its $100 billion commitment to U.S. research, development and manufacturing over the next decade.
Of course, AbbVie will gain an Illinois tax credit worth an estimated $25 million over the next 15 years through state economic development incentives. That’s how it works when it comes to investments in communities, something state officials might want to revisit if the Chicago Bears bolt to Northwest Indiana.
Indeed, AbbVie officials said in a statement they are currently in discussions with multiple states about potential manufacturing investments, and they anticipate announcing additional U.S. investments this year. That includes recently announced plans to acquire a device manufacturing facility in Arizona, and to make significant investments at its manufacturing plant in Massachusetts.
The AbbVie investment in the state is something to have handy for Democrat JB Pritzker’s re-election campaign. After losses of some high-profile companies to Sunbelt states, the governor can point to AbbVie’s decision to stick with Illinois as proof of his administration’s steady business climate.
Pritzker, in a statement, lauded the company’s North Chicago announcement: “With our world-class workforce, modern infrastructure, strategic location, and cutting-edge research ecosystem, this expansion underscores why Illinois is the best place to grow and innovate.”
That echoes insights from Lake County economic development executives who have reported that business investment in the county last year totaled more than $633 million in capital projects or facility improvements. Early 2026 plans, like those announced by AbbVie, could eclipse that figure.
Also included in the recent inclusion of capital in the county is the announcement two weeks ago that IKEA, the Swedish retail giant, would open its third Illinois brick-and-mortar retail store at Gurnee Mills in the vacant Sears. The company has other locations in Schaumburg and Bolingbrook in Illinois and nearby Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee off Interstate 94.
While small at 66,000 square feet compared to the Schaumburg maxi-store of 400,000 square feet, it will still carry some 3,000 home furnishings and accessories, according to IKEA officials. Still, the repurposing helps fill out the Gurnee mall while other shopping centers are floundering.
From Gurnee to North Chicago, there are a lot of positives in this nascent new year, including the positive reuse of deserted properties. That’s a good sign in Lake County as construction season will kick off shortly.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.com. X @sellenews.
