$40 million warehouse to bring hundreds of jobs to Buffington Harbor in Gary

Cleveland-based KeyBank is lending the capital and has experience financing projects of such a magnitude, Harris said.

The project should create hundreds of jobs, he said.

"This project is aligned with Mayor (Eddie) Melton's vision of providing job opportunities to our residents and leveraging our world-class transportation infrastructure within our city limits," he said.

The developer is affiliated with Transport Properties, which bought 132 acres of land from Majestic Star Casino in 2023 and helped bring in Indiana Sugar, a longtime Gary company that had outgrown its existing facility and needed room to expand.

The goal is to break ground in the second quarter of this year. Construction would take about 14 months to complete.

Transport Properties Managing Partner Tim McCahill said his company has been investing in Gary for eight years, starting by turning 83 residential lots into a logistics hub that is now home to XPO Logistics and Swift Logistics. It also redeveloped a 20-acre site at 8121 Melton Road into the Freight Ninja Truck & Trailer Parking facility.

The company started out focused on transportation but has evolved into doing large warehouses, McCahill said. It also prevented the 101-year-old Indiana Sugar, a bulk sugar supplier, from leaving Gary by giving it a new site where it could expand.