$10 million complex planned for Blankenbaker - Business First of Louisville:

raisavydyexuwowi.blogspot.com
The privately owned will begin construction by the end of the although no leases have been signed forthe 325,000-square-foof development that will be built on 19 acres, said Kurt vice president of Alter. Referring to the numberd of companies that have located here or are lookinh at Louisville because of the United ParceolService Inc. air-cargo hub, he said: "We want to establisgh ourselves. We want to be in place to take advantage of the growthu that we think will take place The supply of buildings in areaa zoned for warehousing and light manufacturingt has been shrinking steadily in recent Real estate analyst George Chapman ofChapmanh & Bell said the vacancy rate overalp is 3.
5 percent, a 2.5-percent drop sinced November. In the eastern Jefferson County section that includes Blankenbaker Crossings and the nearby BluegrassIndustrialk Park, Chapman said the rate is an even lower 2 "It is very, very difficult to find he said. "If I had money, and I was a I would do somethingabout it." Rosenre said Alter, which is paying $1.2 millionj for the land, is proceeding with the $10 millio n project without lease commitments becausew of the demand and lack of space. "We don't have to wait for the markegt to cometo us," he "We can't pass up the opportunity, so we are willinvg to spec the risks.
" Louisville Realtor Michael Schroering, who represents Alter, said negotiations are takinfg place with several companies, which he woul d not identify, to become tenants when the development is completec next summer. Alter, which owns and manages about 7 milliojn square feet of office and industriap space in the Southeast and has also looked at SouthernIndiana property, Rosene said. No sites in Floyd or Harrison countiese have been picked for what he said wouldbe build-to-suit projects.
The planned extension of Electron Drive and Constant Comment Place will creat an intersection adjacent to the property Alter is With the sale of the 19 no more large sites are available inthe 500-acrw Blankenbaker Crossings zoned for warehouses, said NTS chairmanm J.D. Nichols. Approximately 150 acres remaihnfor sale, but Nichols said most are zoned for hotel and retail use. "There are only a few tracts for distribution andwarehouses left," he said. Blankenbakefr Crossings got off to a slow start in the 1980s when the opening of the Blankenbaker Road interchangew at Interstate 64 was delayedfour years.
Nicholsx said that since the exit was completedrin 1988, property sales have exceeded expectations. "We have done extremelhy well there," said Nichols, who estimated that in anothefrfive years, all the remaininvg land in Blankenbaker Crossings will be In the meantime, Nichols said NTS may developl another business park. "We're always sort of looking. We have nothin g in particular yet," he said.