PLAINFIELD, IN-Cabot Properties, based in Boston, has the largest available distribution property in the state up for lease. A third-party logistics firm for John Deere, called CEVA, vacated the property last year.

The 925,800-square-foot building in the AirWest Business Park is also the only distribution property available that is larger than 500,000 square feet. This gives the building a strong advantage to find a tenant, said Jake Sturman with Jones Lang LaSalle, which was just hired by Cabot to market the building. The property at 800 Perry Rd. has 28-foot ceilings, 73 dock doors, four drive-in doors and 20,000 square feet of office.

“We think it’s pretty likely that in the next 12 months we’ll find a tenant, we’ve already seen good interest,” Sturman tells me. “Overall in the Midwest we’ve done fairly well through downturn. This is in the best area in Indiana, which has seen only 10% industrial vacancy.”

He says bulk distribution is only at about 8% in the state, and Plainfield is at only 5% vacant. The 27-million-square-foot market is a key distribution hub for the state and the country, and Sturman says economic indicators show a positive year ahead. There’s more confidence throughout the supply chain, he says, including three companies negotiating more than 1.5 million square feet in the past quarter.

However, Sturman says it’s not likely that the market will see any large construction until at least 2013. “This is unfamiliar territory for Indianapolis industrial developers which wisely gambled on speculative product for nearly 20 years,” he says. “The only mega-deals to happen will probably only be build-to-suit.”