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A top official for the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said numerous companies are considering major investments in the planned advanced manufacturing and tech hub in Boone County known as the LEAP District.
David Rosenberg, chief operating officer and chief of staff for the IEDC, told IBJ that the quasi-government agency is pursuing several projects that together would exceed $50 billion in total investment if they come to fruition. Rosenberg’s comments came Monday after Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly announced it planned to invest an additional $1.6 billion in a new drug manufacturing site at the innovation-focused district in Lebanon, bringing its total commitment to $3.7 billion.
The company will be the first tenant for the LEAP District, anchoring the eastern portion of a development that is expected to eventually span about 11,000 acres on the north and west sides of Lebanon. LEAP is an acronym for “Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace.”
“There is deep, deep interest—I would say almost $55 billion in potential deals in the pipeline, with companies that are looking at LEAP as one of their top two or three choices as they’re doing a nationwide search,” he said.
Rosenberg said he wasn’t authorized to share details of those projects or which companies have been looking at Boone County.
Lilly plans to develop a 13-building campus in the district totaling more than 1.6 million square feet across 600 acres on the northwest corner of County Road 150 West and County Road 375 North. The drug manufacturing plant announced Monday is expected to create 200 jobs, bringing the total job commitment at the site to job.
The IEDC is marketing 14 sites to would-be users, ranging from 80 acres to 1,540 acres. The group hopes to attract mixed-use commercial development such apartments, retail and restaurants in addition to several advanced manufacturing users, office headquarters and companies working in renewable energy.
“It’s future-focused industries and the high-wage careers that we’re really working on developing, and Lilly being an anchor institution, what they’re trying to do is absolutely what we want to accomplish here,” Rosenberg said. “Creating an environment that businesses can invest in, create their product and have a great place to live and work in a state that’s stable and economically friendly is hugely important.”
Rosenberg said the LEAP project is moving at a faster pace and securing more upfront investment—albeit all from Lilly, so far—than what IEDC anticipated. But, he added, he expects more announcements will come sooner rather than later.
“The number of site search [firms] and the number of companies that come visit the site to look at it have exceeded our expectations and will continue to grow,” he said.
About 6,600 acres have already been annexed into Lebanon for the project, with another 4,400 in the works. The IEDC also spent more than $125 million to acquire 1,577 acres of land in Boone County in 2022, according to sales disclosure forms filed with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry said he is still in awe at the investment being made by Lilly, but added the LEAP district has changed his perspective on the scope of potential development.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? A few years ago we were doing these projects where a $100 million [investment] is a good deal—and it certainly is,” he said. “But to start seeing these projects that are in the Bs, and that are potentially tens of billions of dollars, it’s hard to wrap your head around.”
He said the projects that could come to Lebanon because of LEAP are “transformational, once-in-a-generation type of investments” and an opportunity for the city to continue evolving.
“The IEDC has been terrific partners for us, and we’ve been working with them hand-in-hand this entire process,” he said. “If it was us doing all this by ourselves … it certainly would be a challenge. But having the backing and support of the state and and all the teams that work on these projects, we’re going to deliver great things for the state for the state of Indiana, and of course great things for the community of Lebanon.”
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The IEDC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation) has already spent hundreds of millions of Indiana tax dollars to buy up land in Boone County. Due to lack of water resources, they have a grand plan to get water piped (around 40 miles) from the aquifer under the Wabash River. That will easily be over a billion dollars to complete and again be paid for by our tax dollars.
We (residents) have now found out that Eli Lilly is getting almost $20 Million in RTC for their development. The R stands for redevelopment. The land that is being bulldozed for this project is some of the most productive farm land in the state/country and also includes many homes.
What is happening in Indiana is devastating. The IEDC has snatched up thousands (6,000 acres +) in our county and that still is not enough for them. They are a pseudo government agency funded by tax dollars that they are using against us. Indiana taxpayers, not just Boone County residents, should be aware and concerned about irresponsible spending of our State Government. To those in other states, I encourage you to look deeper into what is playing out in Indiana and learn from it to protect your communities.
Here is the definition of a Redevelopment Tax Credit from the IEDC. The land Lilly is building on is NOT any of the below criteria: vacant, underutilized, or a brownfield.
“The Redevelopment Tax Credit provides an incentive for investment in the redevelopment of vacant and underutilized land and buildings as well as brownfields. This credit, established by Indiana Code § 6-3.1-34, provides companies and developers an assignable income tax credit for investing in the redevelopment of communities, improving quality of place and building capacity at the local level.”
I, for one, am very happy that my tax dollars are going to this project. It’s time to move this state forward and this is an area that we can locate organizations with high paying jobs. Bring it on!
Gary B.
plus 1
Gary B
Plus 2
I don’t know how they can market sites to potential buyers when they do not and will not own the property.
Such efforts are governed by very detailed and confidential legal agreements between the property owners and the state. Such documents are common in large real estate deals.
Brent B. I personally know multiple people who live and have property on the map that the IEDC does not own. They are not selling and will not. They have expressed many times for this map to be changed and their properties to be removed.
Eminent domain will come into play.
Gary B.
plus 1
I’m courting companies totaling 1 trillion dollars. Please get real and stop publishing IEDC hyperbole.