FERDINAND — A 72-acre plot of land on Ferdinand’s north side has been designated a prime economic development location by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
Representatives from the state agency visited Ferdinand Town Hall on Friday to officially announce that the site — a flat swath of land owned by Mobel Inc and located just north Industrial Park Road near 23rd Street — was certified as a top-tier development location.
Indiana Site Certified sites are featured on Indiana’s Site Selector Database and are included in the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s marketing materials.
That kind of publicity is good news for Town Council President Ken Sicard.
“For the town, (it’s) a tremendous, positive step,” Sicard said. “It’s not every town or every city that has a prime location.”
To achieve the top-tier designation, sites must consist of at least 30 contiguous acres, be located no more than 2.5 miles from a state highway and undergo an archaeological investigation.
Prime certified sites must also conduct site studies and conduct engineering research. Lower designation tiers include Silver and Gold.
According to OCRA documents, the main goals of the designation program are to mitigate risks for developers, market potential development areas and illustrate a community’s commitment to economic development.
Dubois Strong President Ed Cole said he believes the certification makes the site attractive because it lets buyers know their work will be easier after the purchase. The site-certified designation replaced the shovel-ready designation of the past.
“I think it’s a huge thing because what that does is it tells anyone that’s interested in potentially building there that they’ve got all of the environmental, all of the engineering things that they can review,” Cole said. “You just simply hand them the reports.”
The Mobel site is currently listed for sale on the state’s site selector website for $2.4 million. According to the website, it could be used for light manufacturing, mixed-use development, a business park or for warehouse or distribution purposes. Utilities are accessible and “as on the site as they can be without anything for them to hook up to,” said Ferdinand Town Manager Chris James.
The site sits across the street from the now closed Mobel furniture manufacturing facility, which ceased production in 2014. Mobel Board of Directors Treasurer Phil Ruhe said Mobel has owned the land for decades.
“I think the original generation that founded Mobel did so to help provide jobs for the local area, and that’s really what we’re hoping to get out of this,” Ruhe said. “We’re hoping that a development comes in that can again provide some jobs for the local area.”