Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – Construction of a 50,000-square foot shell building in the Mitchell Industrial Park was approved Thursday by the Lawrence County Redevelopment Commission.
The agreement gives approval for Runnebohm Construction to proceed with obtaining required building permits and site preparation work.
The metal building will cost $5.2 million, which includes a $100,000 allowance for soil work that can be returned to the RDC if no soil issues are encountered.
Chris King, Runnebohm executive vice president, said he anticipates dirt-moving work to begin this fall and completion of the shell building in summer of 2024. King told RDC members that he doesn’t anticipate any supply chain delays that would alter the timeline.
The building will have 32-foot ceilings and include four docks, one overhead door and electric utilities. A base layer of asphalt will be added and the future building user can add the top layer for the drives and parking areas.
The Mitchell Industrial Park is on Doc Hamilton Boulevard just off Ind. 37. The shell building will be the first of its kind constructed in Lawrence County. It will be designed to allow a tenant to expand it to 200,000 square feet, if needed.
A shell building is an important economic development tool and provides the county’s economic development organization, the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council, a means to market Lawrence County to developers looking for a large building with close highway access.
Site selectors looking for property send site details to the Indiana Economic Development Corp, which passes those on to local economic development organizations.
Larry Caudell, president of the Mitchell City Council, said the council has been looking for ways to promote the Industrial Park.
“Acquiring a large manufacturer is very challenging with all the competition of other areas be it within the state or out of state,” Caudell said. “The old thought of ‘my city and your city’ has to be ‘our region’ working together. We are pleased with the shell building project that RDC has helped to get our foot in the door, so to speak, with many site selectors interested in getting started quickly and not from the ground up.
“The shell building will be expandable or if there is a need for a larger area from the start, the design will allow that to happen. Our expectation is to have well-paying jobs in the community which in turn creates a need for more housing and new businesses to provide for new community members.”
Shance Sizemore, executive director of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council, said the shell building is a big step forward for the county.
“I am excited to have the shell building in our tool kit. Over the past few years, our community has missed opportunities to help expand our industrial base,” Sizemore said. “Because we have no industrial space available over 11,000 square feet, we cannot provide adequate availability or speed to market for any company approaching us about a possible location. Therefore, the shell building will give Mitchell a leg up on future leads.”
Funding from TIF revenue
The RDC plans to use funds from the Tax Increment Finance district, created in 2021, to finance the construction. The TIF district includes the Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Mitchell, which recently completed construction of a $600 million, state-of-the art facility. Details of the financing will be confirmed at the August RDC meeting.
“We’re pleased that the Heidelberg Materials plant is not only a huge investment in our county, but we know how fortunate we are to have developed a TIF district around the plant that lets us multiply its value to the community,” said Jeff Quyle, Lawrence County Redevelopment Commission president. “Mitchell will really benefit from having this shell building constructed over the next few months and on the market to attract new business by the middle of 2024. We’ve all been pleased that our County and City leaders have collaborated with one another so well on this shell building project.”
“We are hoping with each business or industry that we get in the Industrial Park that will spark others to be interested,” added Caudell. “Seeing growth and improvements is good for the City of Mitchell, Lawrence County and our region.”