Development expected to follow now-completed I-69 route

Now that the final section of Interstate 69 between Martinsville and Indianapolis is complete, drivers traveling between the capital and cities like Bloomington, Washington and Evansville can finally get where they’re going a little faster.

But what comes next is potentially more significant—the development opportunities that I-69 makes possible, particularly in Morgan and Johnson counties, where large tracts of land along the route remain undeveloped.

“Whenever there’s increased access to interstates, that’s often a huge green flag for developers and businesses to develop in the area,” said Marlon Webb, senior director of regional economic development at Indy Chamber. Webb’s office focuses on Marion and its surrounding counties.

Mike Dellinger, executive director of the Mooresville-based Morgan County Economic Development Corp., said his office has begun to see over the past year an increase in queries from parties interested in the new I-69 corridor.

“We’re starting to create capacity and places for developers to do their thing,” Dellinger said. “We’ve just seen a tremendous shift in attitudes and interest and inquiries as a result of I-69 through the county.”

Construction on the Martinsville-to-Indianapolis portion of I-69 began in early 2019 and included upgrading the former State Road 37 to add more travel lanes, eliminate traffic signals and build 10 interchanges in Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties.

The highway project also included rerouting a portion of S.R. 37 north of Edgewood Avenue. That interchange opened to traffic this week, and the Indiana Department of Transportation says the average drive time between Indianapolis and Martinsville along the route is now 11 minutes shorter.

That increased connectivity is attracting notice from developers, and two major projects are already moving forward at a new I-69/State Road 144 interchange. The interchange, which opened last year, is in Johnson County just east of the Morgan County line.

Planned projects

Just east of I-69 and south of S.R. 144, Aditi Real Estate 57 LLC is developing a 150-acre, mixed-use development called White River Crossing. The site is entirely within Bargersville town limits—the town annexed the land in 2010 in a play to bring the planned S.R. 144 interstate exit within its borders.

And on the other side of the interstate, at the southwest corner of the interchange, Fishers-based developer Meyer Najem is planning an 89-acre development that it’s calling the Whetzel Trace Ag/Life Sciences Park. A portion of that site lies within Bargersville’s town limits, though most of it is in Morgan County.

The idea for both projects, local officials say, is to attract high-value development that enhances a rural but fast-growing part of the metro area. “We’re not going to allow truck stops,” said Bargersville Town Manager Dan Cartwright.

Bargersville had a population of 9,800 in the 2020 U.S. Census count, with a median household income of $102,045. The town’s estimated population now stands close to 14,000, Cartwright said, and some 700 to 800 homes are under construction.

Both developments at that intersection are in their very early stages.

Sewer infrastructure is being developed at White River Crossing. The master plan and conceptual drawings are still in the works, and no tenants have yet signed leases, said Ryan Zickler, co-founder of Greenwood-based Zickler Associates LLC. Zickler is acting as White River Crossing’s development coordinator.

The overall goal is to create a mixed-use development that includes multifamily and single-family housing, retail (including restaurants and a grocery store), a hotel/conference center, and a medical and/or high-tech component, which could include health care providers or biotech offices.

“It’s really going to be a complete mind shift,” Zickler said of the S.R. 144 interchange. “There is a large area of acreage that has not been prime for development until now because you couldn’t access it.”

The new interchange also means that a trip from Johnson and Morgan counties to places like the Indianapolis International Airport, downtown Indianapolis and Fountain Square has become significantly more convenient, he said.

Construction on the first buildings in White River Crossing could begin in spring 2026, Zickler said.

On the other side of the interstate, the Whetzel Trace project will have an agbioscience emphasis.

Dellinger said Morgan County is eyeing the industry in part because the Whetzel Trace site is midway between Indianapolis and Indiana University’s Bloomington campus—both of which have their own significant strengths in agricultural science, life sciences and medicine. And now I-69 has made both of those destinations considerably easier to reach.

Dellinger said Morgan County and Bargersville are working together on extending sewer infrastructure to that site—a crucial component to any development there. A marketing plan is in the works for the site, he said, and work could begin in 12 to 24 months.

The Whetzel Trace site might be slower to get off the ground than the neighboring White River Crossing site, Dellinger said, because Whetzel Trace is a multijurisdictional project. But he’s confident that both projects can succeed.

“Without a doubt, there’s market for both of them to move forward,” he said.

Amanda Rubadue, vice president of economic development at Aspire Johnson County, said the group is also aiming to lure life sciences projects to the I-69 corridor thanks to the easy path the highway offers between IU in Bloomington, Eli Lilly and Co. and downtown Indianapolis.

The opening of the I-465 interchange makes that I-69 corridor even more appealing, Rubadue said, because downtown Indianapolis and the Indianapolis International Airport are now more accessible from the western portion of Johnson County.

Rubadue said she hasn’t yet seen an uptick in queries from prospects, but her organization has started actively marketing the I-69 corridor to potential life sciences prospects. She said it’s “so hard to predict” when activity along the corridor might pop.

Taking a broader view, the Indy Chamber’s Webb said the pace of development is tied to many outside factors. Among them: the aggressiveness with which counties and municipalities choose to pursue development opportunities, the type of projects those counties and municipalities are pursuing and overall market conditions.

But if conditions are right, he said, development might not take long. “Within five to 10 years, it could look a lot different,” he said.

Although Webb said he hasn’t noticed an increase in queries that he would attribute to the I-69 project, completion of the interstate gives him another asset he can discuss with prospects.

Inspiration

In envisioning what the I-69 corridor could become, some are taking inspiration from other stretches of Indiana interstate.

Professor Philip Powell, executive director of the Indiana Business Research Center at IU’s Kelley School of Business, sees I-65 from Indianapolis to Lafayette as an example of I-69’s potential future.

Lilly has announced plans for a 13-building, $9 billion manufacturing campus that will be part of the planned 10,000-acre LEAP Research and Innovation District along I-65 in Boone County.

Purdue University has also declared its interest in developing I-65 between Lafayette and Indianapolis as a “hardtech corridor.” Hardtech generally refers to the marriage of software and physical objects, including everything from medical devices to next-generation construction materials.

Now, with I-69 providing a direct link between Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division; Bloomington; and Indianapolis, Powell said new areas of central Indiana have a chance at attracting development.

Still, development along I-69 from Evansville to Bloomington hasn’t taken off as proponents had hoped. The southernmost section in Indiana has been open since 2012, yet large stretches along that part of the interstate are still undeveloped.

There’s reason to expect that the section between Bloomington and Indianapolis will be different, Powell said, because the population in that area is more dense.

“Things are going to sprout much faster on the northern side of Bloomington, just naturally,” he said.

Webb said I-69 passes through some hilly terrain south of Bloomington, which likely also inhibits development to some degree. And because that section was newly built roadway through rural areas, development is complicated by limited utility infrastructure.•