Indiana land rush is on near East End bridge

Even as subdivisions and industries took root in rural southeast Clark County, Ind., in recent decades, the community never completely lost a grip on its colorful past.

Corn stubble and cattle dot fields beside clusters of homes and an ancient Native American burial ground. In nearby Utica, one of Indiana’s oldest towns, luxury homes line the Ohio River shoreline just blocks from a well-worn mobile home sporting a hand-painted yellow sign that urges “Keep Utica Unique!”

Whether this swath of Southern Indiana can retain its uniqueness is an intriguing question as the East End bridge – set to open this year – triggers a rapid transformation.  An unprecedented land grab is underway in anticipation of better access between Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Charlestown and the burgeoning former Army ammunition plant, River Ridge Commerce Center.

If that was predictable, one unforeseen trend has been a big uptick in interest by Louisville-area residents who are buying homes in Clark County, eager to take advantage of comparatively lower prices and quick commutes to eastern Jefferson and Oldham counties once the bridge opens.

“I don’t believe our community fully grasps how significant the change (that) this bridge is going to bring,” said Mike Moore, Jeffersonville’s mayor.

Developers, real estate brokers, political leaders and economic development boosters gleefully describe a perfect storm in the making. There's the 6,000-acre River Ridge, where nearly 6,500 people draw a paycheck a short distance from an increasingly busy Port of Indiana on the Ohio.

Add to that the existing rail lines, access to a major waterway, a short jump to Metro Louisville and the UPS hub. With the new bridge expected to send 36,000 cars and trucks daily through the community, many confidently predict a wave of growth for rural Clark mirroring what unfolded decades ago across the river in Kentucky when the newly built Snyder Expressway crossed key arteries beyond the urban core.

Commercial and residential real estate investors are mapping plans for shopping centers, office buildings and new subdivisions similar to those that sprang up around Westport Road, Ky. 22 and Old Henry Road.

The change is most visible on Ind. 62, the four-lane roadway bordering River Ridge. For sale signs line the roadway on both sides. Prices are soaring, with some well-positioned parcels fetching as much as $265,000 an acre – double and triple what they were getting five years ago.

County records reveal a rapid-fire turnover where developers already have spent tens of millions of dollars along 62 to consolidate parcels to flip or build commercial centers for banks, hotels, coffee shops, medical clinics and fast-casual restaurants.

The investment “is real. It’s not artificial,” said Phil McCauley, a former Jeffersonville councilman and businessman who serves on River Ridge and the port boards.

Change taking place, much more to come

Drive the road and nearby feeder arteries now, and you’ll see excavators leveling churches, pole barns, 1950s-era brick homes, mobile homes, garages and lean-to’s. Some investments already have paid handsomely for big players, such as Kaden Development, which owns the Kaden Tower on Dutchmans Lane in Louisville.

Starting in November 2014, the company has spent $9.4 million to assemble 65 acres on the south side of 62, west of the Interstate 265 interchange. In December, from a 32.8-acre parcel that cost $5 million, the company sold 15 acres to Baptist Health for $4.9 million. That chunk doesn’t infringe on valuable frontage for future sale or creating outlots.

Kaden President Mark Blieden stood with company co-founder Jim Karp on the site of a former motel on a recent breezy afternoon. Nothing but the concrete pad remained beneath their leather dress shoes. The company isn’t ready to reveal its larger vision for the property, but the partners should have a major announcement on tenants in the next few months, Blieden said, adding that “it will be nice, really nice. We’re excited about it.”

The location is prime for creating a place for shops, sit-down restaurants and other retail, said Jon Lopp, a development consultant to Kaden. “This exit is just perfect for this kind of development right now,” Lopp said. “It’s easier to get to than Veterans Parkway,” where stores and eateries have cropped up along I-65.

Two other small strip centers on property acquired in the last 18 months – for $436,000 and $980,000 – are in the works across 62 from River Ridge.

On a 4.8-acre parcel, Brian Lenfert, a real estate agent and Clark County councilman, is clearing ground for a Waffle House and Huck’s gas and convenience store. A fast-casual restaurant is looking at another lot.

He’s also contracted with First Harrison Bank, Starlight Coffee and a Floyd Memorial Hospital clinic for property being cleared now at 62 and Stacy Road. Lenfert also has made runs at other sites, but owners have begun raising prices. Some are "starting to see dollar signs," he said.

Take the 2.19 acres zoned for business uses at 62 and Bethany Road: The owners are asking $1.5 million, and "we figure it will become a strip mall," said Tamara Price, the broker with ProMax who's listing the property.

Some trace ownership back through generations

Some people are holding out, regardless of the insane-sounding numbers.

One is Mary Richardson, who owns Twilight Golf Course at 5316 Ind. 62. The par-3 golf course on about 20 acres was built in the 1950s and charges throwback greens fees of $7.

Though she’s been offered unspecified "pretty nice" sums, she said, she's not interested in moving and enjoys running a place where she's given free golf lessons to youngsters for decades. “I’m in no hurry,” Richardson said, plus “the more you hold on to it, the more you get.”

Although Richard "Mike" Myers Sr. hasn’t received any offers on his Utica-Charlestown Road farm, the place where he was born and his grandmother lived in the late 1800s, he figures the day is coming.

The rolling ground where his family runs cattle was in the path of I-265, so two years ago the state of Indiana bought 13 acres for right-of-way. Another "heavy-haul" road planned to connect River Ridge and the river port, west of Utica, will cross within a mile or so.

If anybody comes looking to buy from him, the 68-year-old Myers said, he's not selling. "Not in my lifetime."

Many of Myers' neighbors are worried about traffic and buyers looking to build more subdivisions because of the quick access to the bridge and I-265.

“In a few years, you’re not going to know this place,” said Hank Dorman, a Utica native and a town councilman.

Jeffersonville lays  groundwork for growth

In Jeffersonville, where blueprints for new developments are arriving weekly, the city has mapped plans to revitalize 10th Street, where officials are trying to avoid having older, shabby-looking storefronts closer to the inner core in contrast to the new developments near I-265.

They’ve also added zoning classifications such as “traditional marketplace” that allow for commercial development on lots as small as 5,000 square feet.

The idea, said planning and zoning director Nathan Pruitt, is to encourage investment in existing commercial areas, places where newer businesses will set up along 10th Street, which becomes Ind. 62 to the east.

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The city is still devising zoning for a 60-acre gateway where River Ridge has mapped an entrance to the business park featuring a lake, pedestrian paths and new landscaping at Old Salem Road, beside the first exit off I-265 after the bridge. Office buildings may eventually rise there.

Nearly 50 acres, including a chunk between River Ridge's property and the 265-Old Salem interchange, is owned by T.J. Mark LLC, the family of the late golf course developer and businessman James Kirchdorfer Sr. The company's preliminary plans have been shown to city officials, but nothing has been formally submitted, Pruitt said.

Whatever unfolds there, it has to be first class, the director said, because “this is going to be one of two gateways into the state of Indiana. It has to be done right.”

What’s unfolding is “unprecedented territory for Jeffersonville … it’s a big opportunity," Pruitt said.

Jeffersonville and Charlestown leaders saw potential during the years when the Army placed the former World War II-era ammo plant under control of a re-use authority and eventually turned an initial 3,000 acres over to local governments.

McCauley, who worked in former Mayor Tom Galligan’s administration, said he recalls once telling the mayor that if the cities eventually filled the place with industry, “we could be as big as Evansville someday.”

At 46,000 residents, Jeff is less than half that size now, but the city has added 2,400 people in the last three years.

Some of the growth is expected to come with people working better-paying jobs in River Ridge, McCauley said.

Estimates are that the park, as it’s built up, could reach employment levels of more than 25,000 people.

So a land rush really isn't a surprise to those who've waited for years to see the bridge open and the commerce center begin to perk, McCauley said.

“When you think about 25,000 jobs within a generation," he said, "that’s a lot of consumers.”

Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 502-582-4082 or by email, gschnieder@courier-journal.com.