A top official for the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said numerous companies are considering major investments in the planned advanced manufacturing and tech hub in Boone County known as the LEAP District.
David Rosenberg, chief operating officer and chief of staff for the IEDC, told IBJ that the quasi-government agency is pursuing several projects that together would exceed $50 billion in total investment if they come to fruition. Rosenberg’s comments came Monday after Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. announced it planned to invest an additional $1.6 billion in a new drug manufacturing site at the LEAP Lebanon Innovation District, bringing its total commitment to $3.7 billion.
David Rosenberg
The company will be the first tenant for the LEAP District, anchoring the eastern portion of a development that is expected to eventually span about 11,000 acres on the north and west sides of Lebanon. LEAP is an acronym for “Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace."
“There is deep, deep interest—I would say almost $55 billion in potential deals in the pipeline, with companies that are looking at LEAP as one of their top two or three choices as they’re doing a nationwide search,” he said.
Rosenberg said he wasn’t authorized to share details of those projects or which companies have been looking at Boone County.
Lilly plans to develop a 13-building campus in the district totaling more than 1.6 million square feet across 600 acres on the northwest corner of County Road 150 West and County Road 375 North. The drug manufacturing plant announced Monday is expected to create 200 jobs, bringing the total job commitment at the site to job.
The IEDC is marketing 14 sites to would-be users, ranging from 80 acres to 1,540 acres. The group hopes to attract mixed-use commercial development such apartments, retail and restaurants in addition to several advanced manufacturing users, office headquarters and companies working in renewable energy.
Matt Gentry
“It’s future-focused industries and the high-wage careers that we’re really working on developing, and Lilly being an anchor institution, what they’re trying to do is absolutely what we want to accomplish here,” Rosenberg said. “Creating an environment that businesses can invest in, create their product and have a great place to live and work in a state that’s stable and economically friendly is hugely important.”
Rosenberg said the LEAP project is moving at a faster pace and securing more upfront investment—albeit all from Lilly, so far—than what IEDC anticipated. But, he added, he expects more announcements will come sooner rather than later.
“The number of site search [firms] and the number of companies that come visit the site to look at it have exceeded our expectations and will continue to grow,” he said.
About 6,600 acres have already been annexed into Lebanon for the project, with another 4,400 in the works. The IEDC also spent more than $125 million to acquire 1,577 acres of land in Boone County in 2022, according to sales disclosure forms filed with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry said he is still in awe at the investment being made by Lilly, but added the LEAP district has changed his perspective on the scope of potential development.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? A few years ago we were doing these projects where a $100 million [investment] is a good deal—and it certainly is,” he said. “But to start seeing these projects that are in the Bs, and that are potentially tens of billions of dollars, it’s hard to wrap your head around.”
He said the projects that could come to Lebanon because of LEAP are “transformational, once-in-a-generation type of investments” and an opportunity for the city to continue evolving.
“The IEDC has been terrific partners for us, and we’ve been working with them hand-in-hand this entire process,” he said. “If it was us doing all this by ourselves … it certainly would be a challenge. But having the backing and support of the state and and all the teams that work on these projects, we’re going to deliver great things for the state for the state of Indiana, and of course great things for the community of Lebanon.”