But demand for space has remained robust, and developers like Molto believe Indianapolis still has room to run. “Timing is key in a market like Indy,” says Powers, “and the market hasn't swung in the wrong direction yet.”

INDIANAPOLIS—As reported in GlobeSt.com, many industrial developers in the Chicago-area have decided to purchase plots of outlying land in hopes of building massive distribution facilities with up to 1.3 million square feet, sometime in the near future. But in Indianapolis, the demand has gotten so intense that developers want to begin building right away.

“In Indianapolis, you're not competing against as many buildings and as many submarkets,” Mike Powers, senior principal and chief investment officer at Molto Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. The Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based developer recently expanded its footprint near Chicago by purchasing 79 acres of vacant land located along McLindon Rd. in Minooka, IL, and in addition, it also bought 47 acres of land at 5425 Exploration Dr. in the Southwest submarket of Indianapolis. The IL land will remain vacant for a while, but Molto has decided it's time to build a 620,935 square foot speculative industrial building on the IN land.

The property, part of a 1,700-acre master-planned park known as Ameriplex, in, is adjacent to I-70 and near the second largest FedEx hub in the US. Molto will partner with Holladay Properties, Inc. to develop the site. Construction will commence this spring with a targeted fourth quarter, 2017 completion date.

“We're expecting to see some RFPs in the next few weeks,” Powers adds. Just a short time ago, the market was a bit overloaded with newly-constructed, vacant buildings, but in the past 18 months, eager users absorbed much of that space.

But demand for space has remained robust, and developers like Molto believe Indianapolis still has room to run. “Timing is key in a market like Indy,” says Powers, “and the market hasn't swung in the wrong direction yet.”