BNSF Railway near start of rail park in Hudson

HUDSON — The BNSF Railway Co. is getting ready to break ground on the long-awaited rail park in Hudson that will serve Northern Colorado and Denver markets.

The BNSF Logistics Center Hudson will be on a 430-acre site in the Hudson Industrial Park and include the railway’s loading and warehouse facilities. It will have approximately 16 shovel-ready parcels of varying size that the railway will lease to companies that want to develop near the center. BNSF will provide the infrastructure for the rail-served properties.

The park is just east of Interstate 76 and is accessed by Weld County Roads 49 and 52.

BNSF (NYSE: BNI), based in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the project in 2011. Over a period of time, BNSF bought parcels of land near its main rail line in Hudson. Some of the parcels were purchased in 2010, according to public records. Over the next several years, BNSF added to its land portfolio for the project, purchasing the final 263 acres in 2016. 

BNSF spokeswoman Jessa Lewis said the company plans to invest more than $100 million to develop the park. “We anticipate customer facilities to be operational in early 2019,” she said via email.

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BNSF ships freight, such as coal, agricultural products and consumer goods throughout the western two-thirds of the United States.

“We have seen an increase in customer interest in locating facilities in the highly populated Denver growth area, but the number of rail-served sites in the area is limited,” Lewis said.

Upstate Colorado, an economic development organization serving Northern Colorado based in Greeley, will help publicize the center to prospective tenants.

“We’ve been working with BNSF on this project for the past couple of years,” said Rich Werner, president and CEO of Upstate Colorado. “It’s a good time now, with the economy growing here.”

Hudson’s town planner, Tom Fronczyk, has been meeting with BNSF officials about the project, going over details concerning drainage, grading and utilities.

“They have become more interested in the past eight to 10 months on this project,” said Fronczyk, who expects the railway to submit a formal application by mid-April. “They’re on the clock,” he said. “If they miss that time, the process will be pushed back.”

Fronczyk said because meetings have been ongoing, once formal applications are filed, a construction start could come very soon. He said the first steps would be to lay track from the main line to parcels within the park.

Lewis said BNSF is relocating utilities, adding rail leads and main line connections, building the common loop infrastructure as well as common roads into and out of site.

BNSF has 32,500 miles of track in 28 states and three Canadian provinces. It also has about 1.3 million feet of track in its 25 facilities. In 2009, it was acquired by Warren Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Editor’s note: This story was updated May 30 with details t provided by BNSF Railway Co.

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