The developer of AmeriPlex at the Crossroads is building a new business park in Michigan City. Staff photo by Joseph S. Pete
A developer plans to build a massive 900,000-square-foot business park in Michigan City.
South Bend-based Holladay Properties, which built the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads in Merrillville and the AmeriPlex at the Port in Portage, plans to build a new industrial park on U.S. 20 by Swan Lake Memorial Gardens in Michigan City.
"We have plans for a couple of new projects in Michigan City. One's residential and one's light industrial," said Michael O'Connor, vice president of leasing and development. "We've put a piece of property in Michigan City under contract, and we're doing planning on it now to do a bigger business park."
The new business park will have about seven or eight buildings. It would not be as large as the AmeiPlex business parks in Portage and Merrillville, both of which sprawl across more than 300 acres.
"It's not quite as big, but it's definitely a big investment," he said. "It's a long-term project."
The business park will take 10 to 12 years to build out, O'Connor said. It's being driven by all the growth in Michigan City and nearby New Carlisle.
"It reflects the things that are happening in Michigan City and communities around us with the battery plant and data center," he said. "I just think we're going to see continued demand."
Construction is nearly complete at the AmeriPlex at the Port business park in Portage. Only a few sites remain for new construction.
"We're going to be close to finishing it," he said. "It's also driven by I-94 and new construction."
Economic Development Corp. Michigan City Executive Director Clarence Hulse said the new industrial park would make it much easier to recruit businesses to town.
"In our line of business, everybody wants a building yesterday," he said. "We have to do the work to have sites shovel-ready, so they can build their own. It helps to have spec buildings, which involves a risk. By having the market build all these buildings, people are going to look at us differently."
EDCMC is working with the developer on site planning, wetland mitigation and other prep, Hulse said.
"There is a market. We get called all the time for large buildings: 100,000 square feet, 200,000 square feet," he said. "We don't have it. Part of being ready for the marketplace is doing all the preparation work. We're working on it next year. We hope to break ground next year."
The project could be transformative, Hulse said.
"Any time you can do industrial projects of this scale, it helps create high-wage new jobs, helps keep residents happy and helps bring new residents," he said. "It helps complete that circle of having residential, commercial and industrial."
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