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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOpus Development Corp., a Minnesota-based real estate firm, is starting development of two industrial buildings in Plainfield totaling a massive 925,000 square feet.
Milwaukee-based investor Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. will own the buildings.
The owner doesn't have tenants lined up for the buildings, but is banking on strong demand in the industrial market.
The two warehouses—one 475,000 square feet and the other 450,000 square feet—are set to be built on 52 acres at Reeves Road and Indiana 267 that Opus has owned since 2008. Construction is set to start later this month, with completion slated for May. Opus declined to disclose the cost to build the buildings.
It’s likely that one to four tenants will occupy the buildings, said Douglas J. Swain, vice president and general manager of Opus’ Indiana operations.
“We’ve seen some interest, and we’ve begun to speak to a couple of potential tenants,” he said. “Indianapolis has always been a strong industrial market.”
It’s been particularly strong lately, as demand for speculative industrial space increases after a lull in construction during the downturn.
Atlanta-based Industrial Developments International Inc. completed construction of a 794,608-square-foot speculative building within the AmeriPlex Business Park in March and now plans to build a 460,000-square-foot building within the same complex.
Chicago-based Verus Partners is constructing a 771,000-square-foot bulk warehouse building in GreenParke at Airwest Business Park in Plainfield, slated to be finished Sept. 1. And Kansas City-based VanTrust Real Estate LLC has completed a 450,000-square-foot spec building at Stanley and Perry roads, also in Plainfield.
In Boone County, a joint venture of Duke Realty Corp. and Browning Investments Inc. this year built a 600,000-square-foot warehouse, expandable to more than 1 million square feet. The building is in AllPoints at Anson in Whitestown.
When finished with its latest project, Opus will have developed 8 million square feet in Plainfield, including 11 existing buildings in Airwest Business Park.
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