Another land deal nears for River Ridge

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November 27, 2012

Another land deal nears for River Ridge

11-acre site near Amazon would contain four buildings

By BRADEN LAMMERS braden.lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Nov 27, 2012, 06:48 PM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — The River Ridge Development Authority Board of Directors approved a resolution to allow River Ridge Executive Director Jerry Acy to sell 11 acres of property along Ind. 62.

Paul Wheatley, director of Marketing and Finance for River Ridge, said a confidential prospect is looking at the 11-acre tract and the resolution — 60-2012 — would allow Acy to negotiate the final terms of the deal. The property is just north of the Amazon.com distribution center along Patrol Road near the Trey Street intersection.

“They are looking to build four commercial buildings that would total 88,000 square feet,” Wheatley said of plans for the site.

While Wheatley and Act said it is expected that some office space will be constructed at the site, they would not release the name of the potential developer.

“It’s going to be commercial/office space,” Acy said. “It could be a bank, it could potentially be some type of restaurant, but we anticipate it being mainly office space.”

He added that he hopes an agreement will be in place within the next 45 days.

Ind. 62 work

River Ridge Engineer Marc Hildenbrand said work along Ind. 62 is nearly complete.

“The only work that lacks completion is right out here in front of us,” he said, referring to the 6000 block of Ind. 62.

Hildenbrand said crews will be laying the last layer of asphalt and that by the end of next week, paving will hopefully completed.

In addition to the paving work nearly completed, the development authority board approved a change order for the entrance near Amazon.com’s site. The change order is related to a request to shift the road coming from the intersection adjacent to the fulfillment center about 150 feet so it lines up truck traffic to the loading area for the Amazon building.

Hildenbrand explained the Indiana Department of Transportation recommended submitting the modification as a change order totaling $77,085. As it stands, the development authority will have to pay all of the costs for the change to the project.

However, Hildenbrand said River Ridge will seek to recover funding for the change order from the federal government, which covered 80 percent of the project cost. If River Ridge is unable to secure funding from the federal government he said funding will be sought from INDOT.

Equipment purchase

The River Ridge Development Authority also agreed to purchase a Bobcat compact tract loader for $91,671. The new equipment will be used to clear brush and trees off of sites to prepare them for marketing for future development.