Meritex Leases Up Site, Plans 50-Acre Park

INDIANAPOLIS-Meritex Enterprises, based in Roseville, MN, is making strong inroads in the Indianapolis industrial market, having leased up a building in the city, and about to purchase 50 acres for a new park in Noblesville, just a couple more miles north. Whereas the Roseville leases filled up a 192,000-sf facility, the plans for the property here are much larger, with the company looking to build six buildings at about 500,000 sf, about half the amount of space the company is looking to buy or build in this market in the next few years, says Richard Eichhorn, VP of investments for the firm.

He tells GlobeSt.com that Meritex is planning the Noblesville park just off exit 10 on Interstate 69. “It’s the fastest growing new city in the country,” Eichhorn says. The cost of the development hasn’t been determined yet, he says. “It’s going to depend on what the market does. We hope to start the first building sometime by next year.”

The leases to the south, at 9910 North by Northeast, kept the 192,000-sf building from being vacant. KHF Holdings, an independent owner and operator of Ashley Furniture Homestores for the area, renewed 90,000 sf for distribution and customer pick-up. Eichhorn says the company has been in the building four years, and has renewed for another two, plus an option for two more. The rest of the space was leased to a new logistics tenant not from the Indy area. “I’d rather not name them. They’re not moving in until April 1 and they’re in temporary space now, and they haven’t disclosed this lease to the owner where they are,” Eichhorn says. The asking rate for the property was $3.25 per sf, triple net.

He says his company, which also owns about 300,000 sf in three buildings in Park Fletcher near the airport, is bullish on Indianapolis. “It’s just a middle-America-type market,” Eichhorn says. “We’ve dedicated ourselves to being here, it’s a great crossroads, so many transportation modes coming in here. There’s just been a huge expansion of rail and logistics hub business, within a day drive time you can access over 60% of America.”