Seymour Plan Commission approved a plan Thursday allowing developers to build a shell building on property in the Eastside Industrial Park.
TDAK Development Inc., owned by Andy Royalty of Seymour, will construct the 70,000-square-foot warehouse with the hopes of luring a business to fill the space in the near future.
The property is in the 2000 block of Killion Avenue and is owned by Seymour Industrial Corp.
Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., spoke in support of the project.
“We believe this is an opportunity, since more than 50 percent of the inquiries that we get, companies are looking for existing buildings as opposed to land to expedite their process,” he said.
It’s possible the building could be used by an existing business, too, Plump said.
“In many instances across the state, we will see a shell building be constructed, and an existing industry will take it from an expansion standpoint,” he said.
But either way, Plump described the project as a “win-win” for the city and county because of its potential to add jobs and revenue for the city in the form of property and income taxes.
Jonathan Isaacs with Independent Land Surveying prepared the site plan, which includes a driveway to access the building and a small parking lot, which could be expanded depending on the need.
“We’ve provided a retention pond for stormwater drainage, and we’ve actually reduced the post runoff from what the pre-runoff is, so there is no additional runoff,” Isaacs said.
The site has access to sewer, water and electric service, he said.
Dave Geis, president of Seymour Industrial Corp., said the joint venture between TDAK Development Inc. and Seymour Industrial Corp. to construct the spec building is a good one.
No fewer than nine communities south of Marion County have spec buildings in place, he said.
“We understand from advisers that it’s not enough to have shovel-ready sites these days,” he said. “You need to be competitive with actually having a shell up and ready to be finished out.”