DeKalb’s planning and zoning commission has given an early green light to Project Big Lakes, a proposed manufacturing campus inside the Park 88 business park that local officials say could bring a wave of new paychecks to town. The development would cover roughly 47 acres at the northeast corner of Fairview and Macom drives and could put between 150 and 300 people to work onsite.
According to Shaw Local, the proposal from Park 88 Group LLC calls for an 186,040-square-foot building, with another 185,640-square-foot area reserved for a future expansion next door. VentureOne appeared before the commission on behalf of the applicant at the June 15 hearing. Senior vice president Steve Miller, citing a nondisclosure agreement, declined to reveal the name of the company that would occupy the space but told commissioners the facility could be up and running next year, employing roughly 150 to 300 people onsite.
Where the site would sit
Developers are looking to build across two lots totaling about 47 acres within Park 88. Plans show about 25 acres along the south side of Macom Drive designated as Lot 1 and roughly 21 acres at the northeast corner of Fairview and Macom marked as Lot 2. City records and property listings line up with that layout, with Park 88 parcels clustered along Macom and Fairview drives, according to a City of DeKalb FOIA report.
Park 88 context
Park 88 has long been pitched as an industrial hub tailored for build-to-suit and distribution projects, and Venture One lists multiple Macom Drive properties tied to that vision. The project site would sit among existing warehouse and distribution buildings, including facilities for 3M and Target, underscoring the corridor’s reputation as a logistics-heavy stretch of DeKalb.
Next steps and approvals
Project Big Lakes is still far from shovel-ready. Developers must secure preliminary and final development plan approvals, along with a final plat of subdivision, before the city will issue building permits. City staff has also laid out a checklist: engineering and landscape plans must be submitted, and the final plat has to be recorded first. Even so, the Planning & Zoning Commission gave the petitioner a unanimous 4-0 nod on Monday. The DeKalb City Council is slated to take up the proposal at its June 22 regular meeting, Shaw Local reported.
Impact and timeline
If approved and built, Project Big Lakes would bring in a mid-sized manufacturing facility that city documents describe as producing climate-control and energy-management systems. That would mean construction jobs during the buildout phase and a steady roster of manufacturing positions once the operation is fully open. Local officials and the developer say they are aiming for the unnamed tenant to be operating by mid-2027, though the company’s identity will stay under wraps while nondisclosure terms remain in effect.
