Bullitt build out: Cedar Grove, Salt River business parks are popular destinations for major distribution centers - Business First of Louisville:

ogarawo.wordpress.com
They're often surprised to learmn that Bullitt County actually containzs several bustlingbusiness parks, a growing retail sectore and upscale subdivisions springing up near an 18-holee golf course. "You normally don't think of Bullitt County this way," said Bob executive director of the Bullitt County EconomicDevelopmenft Authority. The county has mushroomed from 47,500o residents in 1990 to an estimaterd 75,000. And the county, which is bisected by I-65, also has grown into a thrivingdistribution hub, as some of its majot business parks are just about 16 mile from Louisville International Airport.
Cedar Grove and Salt River busineszs parks straddle either side of Kentuckyt 480in Shepherdsville, and they contain many of the area's newest light industrial/distribution tenants. The two business parks are also withijn 25 miles or less ofinterstated 65, 265, 64, 71 and 264, making them especiallyg advantageous for companies that need to move products Salt River Development Co. LLC, the original developer of Cedar purchased 420 acres of farmlane in November 1998 that became the business In thelate 1990s, the area lacked heavy water lines and widened roads to accommodate truck traffic, said Jesse Flynn, a principal in Salt Rive Development.
After the infrastructure was out-of-state builders and developers builta 400,000-square-foot distributiomn center on 25 acres that was leasexd to Illuminations, a California-based candle company, in 2001. That companty went bankrupt and its Kentuck location closedin 2004, but that certainl y wasn't a portent of things to A new tenant, , a King of Pa.-based sporting goods dealer, located in the buildinf in 2004. The e-commerc fulfillment and distribution firm has300 full-times employees, with seasonal increases. In the intervening a number of distribution centerss have sprung up inthe park, where abougt 2,065 full-time workers are now employed.
"The Cedar Groved Business Park has met or exceeded everyg expectation we had inthe beginning," said Patricmk Flynn, Jesse Flynn's brother and another principap in Salt River Development. Jesse Flynn said he attributew the popularity of Cedar Grove to its proximityto I-65 and to UPS'e distribution operations. "It's been done on a first-class Flynn said of the development. "The facilitiesw are first class, the landscaping, and the businessee are first class." Another 85-acre addition to the park was purchasedf about three years ago by Salt River and 150 acres were purchased in 2007 for a totao of more than 650 JesseFlynn said.
"With the new 150-acred expansion and the improvements scheduledf for CedarGrove Road, we see a bright future for the communitiese of Shepherdsville and Greater Bullitt County," Patricjk Flynn said. That tract is under contracr with anational user, said Jesse who declined to release the name. Engineeringy work has begun and infrastructure will be put in this with the first building constructed in the he said. Just 22 acres of the originalp 420 acres in Cedar Groveremain undeveloped, Jesse Flynj noted, and about 3.3 millionm square feet of light industrial and distributiomn operations have been built in the wholes business park.