Council transfers agreement to McKesson

The Clear Lake City Council unanimously approved reassigning the development agreement for the McKesson warehouse project during its regular meeting Monday night.

The action comes more than a year after the city entered into a development agreement with Windmill Realty LLC for the construction of a 340,000  square foot regional warehouse and distribution center in the Larry Luker Memorial Industrial Park.  

The agreement states the industry will eventually employ 164 full-time positions with an average annual earnings of $39,000 a year with accumulative payroll of roughly $6.5 million annually. 

The agreement also included language regarding the prospective assignment of the document from Windmill to a successor entity.

In February it was announced that McKesson would occupy the building and the pharmaceutical distributor has now requested that the Council approve the assignment to them. 

At Monday’s meeting, City Administrator Scott Flory noted the taxable valuation of the property has vastly increased in the last year.  

The assessed valuation was reported as $14.6 million as of Jan. 1, compared to $30,000 prior to the property being developed. He anticipates the final valuation could climb to $17 or $18 million when the building is completed later this year.

Councilman Mike Callanan applauded city leaders and residents for helping bring McKesson to the community.  The ability of a smaller community like Clear Lake to put together a deal which would bring a Fortune 100 company such as McKesson to the community was a very good reflection of the community and its leadership, he said.

The new center will replace similar locations currently operating in Omaha, Neb., LaCrosse, Wis. and Little Canada, Minn.