Louisville Real Estate News

Development proposal on the table for 7.3-acre site in River Ridge
Sarah Jeffords
Business First Staff Writer

Floyds Knobs general contractor AML Inc. is eyeing River Ridge Commerce Center, a 6,000-acre complex that is being redeveloped as an office and industrial park, as a future development site.

Earlier this week, AML owner Robert E. Libs submitted an offer to buy a 7.3-acre site in the Southern Indiana park for $294,400. The company ponied up $20,000 in earnest money with the offer, said Marc Elliott, executive director of River Ridge Development Authority.

Board members of the authority, the government entity that is overseeing the redevelopment of the property, approved the proposal this afternoon.

Scott Welch, president of AML, declined to comment on the details of the project.
100,000-square-foot spec building planned

According to information submitted with the purchase offer, Elliott said, AML would construct a 100,000-square-foot facility on the now-vacant site.

The planned building would have a truck-loading area in the rear of the facility and 26- to 30-foot ceilings.

It would be suitable for a variety of uses, such as manufacturing, warehouse, distribution and/or office space. But to Elliott’s knowledge, a tenant has not been signed.

He believes there is enough demand to support the planned development. About 80 percent of the park’s inquiries are for available buildings, rather than land, so a facility such as the one that is proposed is definitely needed, he said.

According to the purchase agreement, AML is required to begin construction within six months of closing on the sale of the property, and the building must be completed within 24 months of the sale.
Site would be second contract in six months

This is the second parcel for which River Ridge has reached a purchase agreement in the past six months.

An affiliate of Louisville-based commercial real estate firm Capstone Realty Inc. is in the process of buying a 67-acre site in the industrial park. Under the firm’s agreement with River Ridge, Capstone partners are required to build two or three buildings with a total of at least 1 million square feet.

Site work is under way for the first structure, a 620,000-square-foot facility that will be anchored by St. Louis-based IDX Corp., a manufacturer of store fixtures and shelving materials. AML is the general contractor for Capstone’s project.