WATERLOO - Large bales of hay now sit in a field along West Airline Highway near the Waterloo Regional Airport.

But those bales will give way to new industrial and commercial buildings if Martinson Real Estate Development and city planners realize their vision for the South Port industrial park.

Waterloo Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission members voted unanimously last week to approve a plat for the planned 10-lot subdivision generally located on 23 acres between West Airline Highway and the U.S. Highway 218 on-ramp from Airport Boulevard. It's across the street from the Control-o-fax building and wraps around the Flowerama site.

The Iowa Department of Transportation already has approved a Revitalize Iowa's Sound Economy grant to cover half the construction cost of Geraldine Road to serve the park. Cunningham Construction of Cedar Falls submitted the apparent low bid of $210,000 to build the road when City Council members opened bids last week.

And South Port - the name is a play on the city's MidPort industrial park to the north - may have its first tenant lined up.

LaForge, a French company which bought Bruns Machine in Cedar Falls in 2007, is now planning to expand its manufacturing operations with a $1.8 million facility on South Port's Lot 1. City Council members recently approved a development agreement to lure the company with a $214,000 land grant and 50 percent tax rebates for eight years.

"It's just sort of happened quietly," said Mayor Tim Hurley. "But (Martinson) came to us with a good project and I think we need to continue to be aggressive and help when we can" on economic development opportunities.

Martinson Real Estate Development was started by owners of Martinson Construction Co., located along Airline Highway west of the South Port project.

Company vice president Scott Martinson said the project has been on the drawing board for some time but moved to construction with the LaForge expansion.

"Waterloo's been really good to work with on this development," Martinson said.

The ability to fill up the park will depend on economic conditions. But Martinson was confident the development is primed to attract more tenants given its location along U.S. Highway 218 and near other industries in the Airline Highway corridor.

"It's just a great location," he said. "You can head in any direction from that point - north, south, east or west."

The construction of Geraldine Road is pending City Council approval of the contract. Under the development agreement, LaForge is expected to finish construction of its 15,500-square-foot facility by July 2010.