This 125,000-square-foot “speculative building” now under construction on a 25-acre site in the Kentucky Transpark will be home to Fruehauf Corporation’s first U.S. plant in more than 20 years.

Fruehauf Corp., a manufacturer of truck trailers and other machinery, has chosen Bowling Green as the home for its first U.S. manufacturing presence in more than 20 years.

Fruehauf Mexico, which has been producing Fruehauf brand trailers since the 1960s, will reintroduce the brand to the U.S. by moving into a 125,000-square-foot speculative building being constructed near the Warren County Area Technology Center in the Kentucky Transpark.

An announcement from the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce and Gov. Andy Beshear said Fruehauf will invest $12 million and create 288 jobs.

“Fruehauf is the founder of semi-trailers and known the world over for their longstanding contribution to the transportation industry,” Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon said in a news release. “We are delighted that they have chosen us for the site of their first U.S. manufacturing plant in 25 years.”

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Fruehauf, which traces its roots to the 1918 creation by August Fruehauf of the Detroit-based Fruehauf Trailer Co. that began making semi-trailers and flourished for decades.

Fruehauf expanded internationally and became a worldwide leader in manufacturing truck trailers before financial problems led to its bankruptcy in 1997.

Fruehauf’s U.S. manufacturing and sales business was sold to Wabash National in 1997. Companies in France, Mexico, New Zealand and Japan continued to operate under the Fruehauf name, and now that brand will return to the U.S. with a sizable presence.

The projected 288 jobs is “the largest job creation we’ve announced in several years,” according to chamber of commerce President and CEO Ron Bunch.

Bunch said having a spec building already under construction was a key factor in luring Fruehauf.

The building is the fourth spec building to be constructed in the Transpark by Dominion Commercial Assets, a limited liability corporation headed by Bowling Green attorney Michael Vitale.

Bunch expects the building, the largest that Dominion has built in the Transpark so far, to be completed by fall.

“Fruehauf should start operations as soon as the building is complete,” Bunch said. “It has already been modified to accommodate the company.”

Three previous Dominion buildings, each of 60,000 square feet, put up by Stewart Richey Construction have been bought or leased, with manufacturer Pan-Oston taking two of them for its expansion and aluminum can maker Crown Holdings leasing the third for storage as it builds a plant nearby.

While important, the spec building isn’t the only factor in Fruehauf’s decision to set up shop in Bowling Green. Bunch said the company has already been approved for tax incentives through the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority.

“The chamber worked with Fruehauf to ensure that everything they needed in a site could be found in Bowling Green,” Bunch said. “Our recent infrastructure investments, central U.S. location and workforce played a key role in their decision to locate in the Transpark.”

Fruehauf’s decision to locate on the 25-acre site continues a string of economic development announcements made by the chamber.

According to a news release, the chamber has closed seven economic development projects this year in southcentral Kentucky, totaling $327.7 million in capital investment and generating 942 new jobs.