DHL opens a Silver LEED-certified distribution center in Chicago

DHL eCommerce, a division of the world’s leading logistics company, DHL Group, announces it has opened a new state-of-the-art Silver LEED certified 352,000 square-foot distribution center in Chicago, Illinois.

The distribution center houses a Honeywell IntelliSort® cross-belt loop sorter capable of processing up to 40,000 parcels and packages per hour. In addition to automation, the facility has 149 dedicated trailer parking spaces. With a team of more than 385 full-time and part-time employees, DHL eCommerce Chicago processes lightweight domestic and international parcels and packages.

The distribution center located at 2065 George Street, Melrose Park, Illinois, has received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Commercial Interiors Silver certification developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. This is the first DHL eCommerce commercial LEED Silver certified building in the U.S. The internationally recognized green building certification validates that the structure was designed to include sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The facility with warehouse, conference, office and training space houses four electric vehicle charging stations and a building management system for environmental controls.

“Chicago is a world transportation and multimodal hub and the perfect location for us to open one of the largest distribution centers in our network,” said Lee Spratt, CEO for DHL eCommerce, Americas. “We have been operating in Chicago for many years, but this new, larger facility has green features we did not have before that allow us to work more sustainably.”

Chicago is part of DHL eCommerce’s five-year U.S. growth plan. Since February 2023, the company has moved its Stow, Ohio operation to a wholly-owned building, its Salt Lake City and Orlando distribution centers to larger facilities, and opened in June 2023 a built-to-suit Kansas City, MO distribution center.