America Place buys 63 acres at River Ridge in Jeffersonville

The land purchase will be one-third of sale negotiations passed by the River Ridge Development Authority at its meeting Monday. This brings America Place to about 150 acres of land at the commerce center, according to a news release.

“ ... We’re expanding because we’ve seen a tremendous amount of demand,” said Keith Starling, leasing and marketing manager for America Place at River Ridge. “We’re getting a lot of companies flying in from all over the country, and they love the Louisville [metro area] and they love the building options for Southern Indiana and they love the new [east-end] bridge.”

The additional 63 acres will house four separate warehouses between 150,000 square feet and 400,000 square feet depending on what best suits potential tenants.

The new land will join the campus located along Trey Street and Salem Road, which will connect to the Interstate 265 interchange and the east-end bridge that will lead to east Louisville.

River Ridge is also located near several other interstates, one which connects to the largest United Parcel Service’s shipping hub, as well as the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville through a future heavy haul road.

Starling said that America Place is “cherry-picking some of the good spots” before they’re gone.

“We’ve got our eyes on the bridge, and a lot of people coming in already know about the bridge. They see it’s happening,” he said of the campus that’s less than three miles from the bridge. “We did pick a strategic location.”

Jerry Acy, executive director of River Ridge, said the transportation logistics and location are big benefits for the commerce center.

“All those things are really playing well in making River Ridge sites more attractive than they were before,” Acy said.

The board unanimously approved five separate land transactions with confidential buyers at its Monday meeting, totaling 176 acres and almost $10 million.

Acy said that if all five sale negotiations go through, 2015 will be the best sales year for River Ridge yet due mostly to its growing logistical advantage.

“It all works together for good, relative to an opportunity for us to hopefully have a real major positive impact on the economic impact in Southern Indiana,” Acy said.

Starling said that America Place has already been approached by several companies — some suppliers for the automotive industry, some manufacturers and a lot of distributors.

“There’s a lot of excitement in general,” he said. “I think the rest of the country is finally kind of seeing what this area has to offer.”

America Place completed construction of its first River Ridge warehouse that is 150,000 square feet and houses Tenneco Inc., a manufacturer for the automotive industry.

The commercial developer is building a 253,000-square-foot warehouse that will finish construction in April. America Place will begin its third phase of construction with a 200,000-square-foot warehouse to be completed in spring and ready for occupancy in the fall.

He said he hopes to make announcements on the tenants of the second and third warehouses soon.

The campus will have a home feel with each company occupying its own building instead of sharing with others. Landscaping and a high ratio of greenspace will also add to the cohesiveness of the campus, Starling said.

“Each building will be unique, but they’ll also complement each other ... Even with the 6,000 acres, you’ll get to America Place and you’ll know it,” he said.