Lakeville Trucking Company Globus Is Getting an 81,100 Sq Ft Warehouse
TLDR
Lakeville's Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of Globus Business Park on April 16, 2026.
The project: an 81,100 sq ft industrial office warehouse on 10 acres along County Road 70 (Juniper Way), east of Kenrick Avenue.
User: local trucking company Globus Transport, currently at 22000 Humboldt Road. They'll occupy about 24,000 sq ft and lease the rest.
Big operational jump: 18 dock doors at the new facility, up from 7 at their current spot.
No truck repairs on site. Outside storage is about 1 acre, strictly for tractor trailers.
City Council votes on final approval May 4, 2026.
The second half of Thursday night's Lakeville Planning Commission meeting was a lot less drama-filled than the first but just as important if you drive County Road 70. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of Globus Business Park — an 81,100 square foot industrial office warehouse on the southwest side of CSAH 70, east of Kenrick Avenue at the end of Kenrick Court.
The company driving the project is Globus Transport, a local Lakeville trucking and logistics consolidation company. They're already based in town at 22000 Humboldt Road. This new building is basically a big upgrade for them.
Who Globus Is (And Why They're Moving)
Muzafar Gafurov, Globus Transport's president, introduced the project himself. He described Globus as a logistics consolidator — they use warehouse space to bring in freight, cross-dock it (consolidate it onto new trailers), and send it back out over the road. No vehicle repairs on site. No typical trucking terminal stuff. Just warehouse, cross-dock, distribute.
The reason for the move came out during commissioner questions. At their current Humboldt Road location, Globus has seven dock doors. In the new building? Eighteen. That's the whole ballgame for a cross-dock operation — more doors means more simultaneous loading, which means less bottleneck. Commissioner Swanson asked whether they'd keep both locations; Gafurov said they hadn't decided what to do with the current facility yet, but operations will move to the new site.
They're not filling the whole building either. Globus itself will occupy about 24,000 square feet and lease out the remaining roughly 57,000 square feet. That's a pretty common industrial real estate play — build bigger than you need, pay off the extra with tenants.
The Site and the Building
The property is 10 acres zoned and guided for Office Park use. The action at the meeting was twofold: a preliminary plat for a one-lot subdivision, plus a conditional use permit to allow a warehouse in the OP district (warehouses aren't a default use in that zone).
Access:
Southwest corner off Kenrick Court
Right-in/right-out off CSAH 70
Both were reviewed and approved by Lakeville engineering and the Dakota County Plat Commission
Building details:
81,100 square feet total
Pre-cast concrete exterior with a smooth texture (meeting the 65% grade A materials requirement)
Staff noted the materials may change before final plat because the applicant is exploring alternative designs
Building and parking setbacks all meet or exceed minimums
One wrinkle: the site is short on parking spaces against what code would technically require. The applicant has demonstrated "proof of parking" — meaning they've shown on paper where extra spaces could go if ever needed. If they can't meet the parking minimum at final plat, they'll have to record a deferred parking agreement against the property. Translation: the city can force them to add parking later if the shortage causes problems.
Outside Storage and Trailer Parking
Chair Zimmer asked the obvious question: what's going to get stored outside? Gafurov's answer: tractor trailers, primarily.
The outside storage area shown on the plan is about 1 acre, which is 10% of the lot size. Lakeville's Office Park district allows outside storage up to 20% of the lot, so Globus is at half the maximum. That storage area also has to be screened and landscaped from adjacent properties per code — the applicant will need to beef up landscaping along the southern property line and the northwest corner before final plat.
Commissioner Palooa asked what happens when trailer storage runs out. Gafurov's answer: they think the space is adequate for current operations. "I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there."
Green Space, Trees, and Stormwater
A few technical numbers worth knowing:
Green space: 30.2% (3.04 acres). The Office Park district requires a minimum of 30%. Barely over, but in compliance.
Tree removal: 63%. The industrial zoning district allows up to 70%, so in compliance — but Lakeville's updated tree preservation ordinance requires heritage trees to be replaced at 100% of their diameter inches. Globus is removing 193 inches of heritage trees; with credits for some they're saving, they owe 97 inches of replacement planting. That gets finalized at the final plat stage.
Stormwater: Private, privately-maintained system with a pre-treatment area feeding into an infiltration basin. Collects and treats all runoff before discharge.
What Happens Next
The Planning Commission's approval goes to the Lakeville City Council on May 4, 2026. That's the final vote. Assuming council signs off, the applicant then comes back with a final plat — at which point the parking plan, deferred parking agreement (if needed), updated landscape plan, stormwater maintenance agreement, and any material changes to the building exterior all get locked in.
No construction timeline was shared at the meeting.
The Bottom Line
If you drive County Road 70 between Kenrick Avenue and Cedar, expect another industrial-looking building to fill in on that southwest corner over the next year or two. If you already live or work near the current Globus Transport location on Humboldt Road, the company said it's not sure yet what happens to that building. And if you're watching the CSAH 70 corridor closely, this is one more industrial project in an area where Lakeville has been approving industrial and warehouse development for a while now.
For a local company growing from 7 dock doors to 18, that's a real expansion story — in a town that's been quietly becoming a logistics hub.
FAQ
Who is Globus Transport?
A Lakeville-based trucking and logistics consolidation company currently at 22000 Humboldt Road. They specialize in cross-docking freight — bringing it in, consolidating it onto outbound trailers, and sending it over the road. No on-site truck repair.
How big is the new building and where exactly?
81,100 square feet on 10 acres, on the southwest side of County Road 70 (Juniper Way), east of Kenrick Avenue at the end of Kenrick Court. Two access points: Kenrick Court and a right-in/right-out on CSAH 70.
Will there be a ton of truck traffic and outside storage?
Outside storage is about 1 acre — strictly for tractor trailers. That's half of what the zoning district allows. The building will have 18 dock doors for loading/unloading activity.
Is Globus occupying the whole building?
No. They'll occupy about 24,000 square feet themselves and lease out the rest.
When does it actually get built?
City Council votes on the final approval May 4, 2026. After that, the applicant comes back with a final plat and construction drawings. No construction start date was shared at the Planning Commission meeting.
