PEORIA, Ill. —Plans made by Caterpillar, Inc. to construct a commercial greenhouse

along with SunSelect Produce, Inc. on 65 acres of rural land adjacent to the

Mossville Technology Center are moving forward, according to an official at the

earth-moving equipment company’s world headquarters in Peoria.

 

The news comes as Caterpillar begins the process of relocating its HQ building

and top-tier executives to Deerfield, in the northern Chicago suburbs, while also

bracing for potential federal tax evasion charges.

Caterpillar recently confirmed its intention to follow through on the greenhouse project, which could employ upwards of 300 people. “Since the initial announcement last year, through the collaborative efforts of the SunSelect and Caterpillar teams, significant progress towards a final design for the project has been made,” said Bridget M. Young, CAT senior public affairs manager, corporate Social Innovation Division.

 

“The teams continue to evaluate certain design system options relative to their impact on the need to achieve a minimum return on investment requirement for the project, prior to due diligence being completed and the project proceeding to the next stage.”

 

SunSelect, founded in 1985 in Europe, will produce tomatoes, peppers and other

vegetables in a hydroponic greenhouse using steam generated by Caterpillar’s

Mossville facility, which is located 10 miles north of Peoria in Medina Township.

Customers will include large retailers, grocery and restaurant chains.

 

“We’re taking what used to be waste steam off what was already a pretty efficient

process, and putting it to use in one of the only ways it could be used, in this type

of agriculture,” Mark Kelly, Caterpillar spokesperson, said in May 2016. “Tying

power generation to greenhouses is not as uncommon as one might think.”

The plan was still subject to regulatory approvals, due diligence and permitting

and closing conditions, Kelly said at the time.

 

Young said recently it was still too early to speculate on groundbreaking or completion dates for the project. Caterpillar had leased out the farmland acreage the greenhouse will be built upon to area producers for decades, prior taking the land out of production just this year.