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Joseph S. Pete
The developer who brought a 1 million-square-foot Amazon distribution center to Merrillville is planning to build another massive business park in town, potentially creating as many as 800 new jobs.
Dallas-based Crow Holdings Development built out Silos at Sanders Farms just off Interstate 65. Now it's looking to build a yet-unnamed business park on a 63-acre site at the southwest corner of E. 73rd Avenue and Mississippi Street.
Crow Holdings Development proposes building a new three-building logistics park totaling 900,000 square feet, Merrillville Economic Development Director Angie Chilcott said. The project is estimated to create between 240 and 800 jobs depending on what tenants move in.
Chilcott said the developer expects to spend at least $70 million on the construction.
Like Silos at Sanders Farm, the business park would be constructed speculatively or on spec, meaning no tenants are lined up.
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The property is currently up for rezoning and will go before the town council next week for approval.
Crow Holdings Development has tentative purchase agreements with two families to buy farmland on the east of Interstate 65, Town Council Member Shawn Pettit said. It's looking at building a 400,000-square-foot industrial building and two 250,000-square-foot buildings, he said.
"We're very happy with what they've done for economic development in town," Pettit said. "It's going to bring a lot of assessed valuation."
Crow Holdings, a national developer that built the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, the Dallas Market Center and The Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, originally built two 250,000-square-foot industrial buildings in AmeriPlex at the Crossroads in Merrillville. It leased them out to Big Lots, Midwest Tire and Auto, Quality Pasta and Turbo Metrics.
The developer then decided to build a new business park on the other side of Interstate 65, buying a 195-acre family farm. Merrillville widened Mississippi Street between 93rd Avenue and 101st Avenue after lining up federal funds through Congressman Frank Mrvan and former Congressman Pete Visclosky.
Crow Holdings invested $225 million to build the five-lot Silos at Sanders Farm business park, which includes the 1 million-square-foot Building 2 Amazon is leasing just off I-65.
"They're now presenting another park further to the north," Town Council President Rick Bella said. "It's a feather in the cap of the town and shows that they have confidence that there's sustainable growth here. It is really a huge undertaking to build another building park."
Merrillville continues to see large-scale development on its south side.
"We have land that's available on the south side," he said. "If you go farther north, it's full neighborhoods. The vacant land is on the south side of U.S. 30 so the natural progression is to develop there. There's huge interest in developable land on the south part of town. We're going to make sure to bring services there, including a fire station and more police officers."
Merrillville has benefited greatly from Amazon's $30 million, 190,000-square-foot delivery station in the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads, which opened in 2021.
"We've seen economic development because of it," Bella said. "If you look around town on the streets, the gas stations and the tire shops, you see Amazon's grey and blue trucks everywhere. They're utilizing local businesses. They're paying taxes. They have drivers driving around and they eat and get snacks in Merrillville and surrounding communities."
Bella said the new business park should help draw even more major employers to town.
"It shows that Merrillville is a desired location," he said. "We're at the crossroads at U.S. 30 and I-65. We're drawing companies from Illinois because our tax rate is so much better and they can save money and still operate their business. We have highway access and transportation infrastructure. We're thrilled to be getting this investment."
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Joseph S. Pete
Business Reporter
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