The Class I railway’s Site Select program identifies development-ready properties along the CSX network where zoning requirements and due diligence have already been taken care of in order to help manufacturers speed the occupation process.
CSX has pre-certified a portion of the Lebanon Business Park in Lebanon, Ind. as ready for development, the company said in a statement.
Under the Jacksonville, Fla. Class I railway’s Site Select program, CSX partners with site selection consulting firm The Austin Co. to designate industrial sites along its network as having met certain requirements and assist communities with the application and certification process. The idea is to help prospective manufacturers make decisions about where to locate plants and distribution centers as factors like utility availability, rail service, proximity to highways, and environmental reviews have already been taken care of.
First developed in the late 1990s by bulk distribution and medical office real estate specialist Duke Realty, the Lebanon Business Park is located 25 miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis near Interstate 65. The facility’s 1,250-acre masterplan has grown to include nearly 8 million square feet of industrial, manufacturing and distribution space in 17 buildings.
In addition, a public-private partnership between the City of Lebanon and Duke Realty invested $4 million in a rail spur to bring cargo directly in and out of the park. The CSX Select Site designation applies to 250 undeveloped acres in the southwest portion of the Lebanon Business Park that could be directly served by rail.
“Since 2010 when we partnered with the City of Lebanon and constructed a spur to bring rail service directly into the park, we have been looking to strengthen our position as the only master-planned business park in the area to offer rail service,” Mark Hosfeld, vice president of leasing and development for Duke Realty in Indiana, said of the news. “Thanks to CSX’s proactive approach to addressing land use considerations and due diligence items, we’ll now be able to reduce the time and risk involved in delivering additional rail-served facilities in the park.”
“Lebanon Business Park’s designation as a CSX Select Site further enhances the steps Duke Realty and the City of Lebanon have taken over the years to make this a premier rail-served development site,” added Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry.
CSX selects Indiana site for industrial development
