Shovel-Ready Demand High in Lafayette Area

Hamilton says two of the area's three shovel-ready sites are near capacity.

The director of economic development for Greater Lafayette Commerce says Indiana State Certified Gold status for a 165-acre industrial site in Lafayette will help free up inventory in what continues to be an active market. Jody Hamilton says the area has been successful in the last few years and developers have essentially used up all available industrial properties.

The Indiana Certified designation is an update to the state’s former "shovel ready" program. The Lafayette I-65 Industrial Sites is the first property in Tippecanoe County to receive be placed in the Gold category under the new system unveiled late last year. It previously served as farm land. The purpose of the program is accelerate the approval process for potential developers.

Greater Lafayette Commerce says Tippecanoe County’s two other industrial park sites have recently welcomed locations of companies including Apex Warehouse and Logistics, FedEx, GE Aviation, Heartland Automotive, Nanshan America, Swift Fuels, TKO Graphix and TRW Commercial Steering Systems.