Hoosiers concerned about huge state project

#inform-video-player-1 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }

#inform-video-player-2 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }

LEBANON — Kim Love, who lives north of Lebanon in Boone County, started hearing rumblings in November that a real estate company was reaching out to neighbors with an offer from an undisclosed buyer.

Soon, Love and her husband, Jim, also received a call from Cushman & Wakefield, an international real estate company, with the same offer to buy their large family farm.

“Jim told him, ‘No, no, you don’t have enough money. I don’t want money. I’m not interested in selling,’” Love said. “They called him four more times.”

In January, the Loves learned the interested buyer wasn’t a company. It was the state of Indiana.

Friends and neighbors said the Indiana Economic Development Corp. already had found many landowners willing to sell, but few would talk about it. The purchase agreement required they sign a nondisclosure agreement.

What did the state want with all this land? The answer was bigger than anything the Loves or other Boone County residents could imagine.

In May, Eli Lilly and the state announced the company was investing $2.1 billion to develop a new plant on 600 acres just north of Lebanon on land acquired by the state. The new facility would be the anchor company for a new “megasite” called LEAP Lebanon, which was to house an expansive, high-tech business park.

What the state didn’t say at the time was that the LEAP, which stand for Limitless Exploration-Advanced Pace, would be the largest economic development project in Indiana history.

John Cox, who lives just north of the proposed LEAP district, said that lack of transparency has led local residents to feel like the state has left them behind and in the dark about a project that could permanently change the landscape and cultural heritage of Boone County.

“Anytime the state is trying to keep it a secret, it’s not good,” he said. “When have you ever heard of a good secret?”

As of mid-June, the IEDC has acquired the rights to purchase around 6,000 acres in Boone County, most of which is rural farm ground, and the state continues to pursue even more land.

The final size of the development will depend on market demand, the IEDC said in an email. But residents who have spoken directly to state officials say the project could encompass 10,000 acres or more.

That’s roughly the size of the entire city of Lebanon.

A ‘LEAP’ forward?

Once fully built, the city-sized site would be home to hundreds of companies in aerospace, ag-tech, life sciences, microelectronics, sustainable energy, transportation and other next-generation innovations, said David Rosenberg, executive vice president of the IEDC.

“LEAP will eventually represent a cluster of industries of the future,” he said. “ … The park will advance research that creates knowledge and jobs together, providing a unique space for cross-pollination and collaboration between (research and development) labs and advanced manufacturing.”

The project is part of the state’s long-term strategy to attract those industries and research companies to bring production of critical resources, such as semiconductors, back to the U.S. and, specifically, to Indiana.

The public unveiling of the development came just months before Gov. Eric Holcomb led a delegation to Taiwan and South Korea in August to talk with business and academic leaders and tout the state’s high-tech vision.

In Taiwan, the state signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the country’s economic affairs department to advance development and investment and beef up supply chains in industries such as agriculture and semiconductors.

In South Korea, the delegation met with a number of business prospects to highlight Indiana’s growing energy and electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem and to argue for the competitive advantages of investing in Indiana.

The visit came on the heels of the federal CHIPS Act, which was approved by Congress in August and makes historic investments to bolster next-generation industries such as artificial intelligence, clean energy, nanotechnology and quantum computing.

The LEAP development now gives the state a solid selling point to get both domestic and overseas companies to open sites in the region. It also lets the state be nimble and responsive when a company shows interest in investing, Rosenberg explained.

“The market is demonstrating that Indiana needs to be able to move more quickly in response to companies looking to grow and expand,” he said. “ … Speed to market is an important and new incentive in global economic development.”

Location, location, location

The state chose Boone County for the development because it’s located at the midpoint of a 70-mile technology corridor along I-65 that connects Indianapolis to Purdue University, Rosenberg said.

The park is also situated near three highway interchanges and sits just 30 miles from the soon-to-be largest FedEx hub in the world, according to Rosenberg.

But for some Boone County residents, the massive development represents the possible extinction of their rural way of life.

That threat led to the creation earlier this year of the Boone County Preservation Group, which aims to protect the area’s farmland and natural resources by supporting responsible land development, according to its website.

Love, an administrator for the group whose family was approached about selling its land, said her biggest concern is permanently removing so much farm ground from production when there are abandoned industrial sites around the state that could serve as the LEAP site.

“Why would you take pristine farmland and destroy it when there’s land that could be reutilized?”

In response, Rosenberg argued, the site would be a very small percentage of Indiana’s farmland, and the development would ultimately play an important role in agricultural innovation.

Bringing LEAP into the light

Mike Andreoli, the attorney representing the Boone County group, said the problem with the development from the start has been the state’s lack of transparency about what was happening in residents’ backyards.

“Most of us got a late start out of the gate, because the state was quietly going around acquiring property before the community really got mobilized to make comments and to get engaged,” he said during a recent public meeting of the group.

That was evidenced in July when many residents were shocked to learn that over 32 residents and companies had signed purchase agreements with the state for 1,400 acres and were petitioning to have their properties annexed into Lebanon.

The City Council approved the request 6-1, just two months after LEAP was publicly announced.

But in reality, the project still has a long way to go, Rosenberg countered. He said some residents may perceive that the LEAP is already well underway, but it could take decades for it to be fully realized.

“We are still very early on in the process of bringing this initiative to life,” Rosenberg said. “ … We are still at the beginning, and we’re working closely with commissioners and the community as things develop.”

Boone County Commissioner Jeff Wolfe said the state recognizes it made a mistake last year launching its land acquisition efforts but has since changed its tune and is now working hand-in-hand with the county on the project.

That includes putting together a Planned Unit Development for up to 6,000 acres of the district. It will set rules on what kinds of development goes where, including manufacturing, industry and residential units.

“We’ve been trying to work with (the IEDC) to direct this in a way that has the least negative impact on the people that live in the area,” Wolfe said. “That’s been our major focus as commissioners: how do we engage this process, even though they’ve got the ability to do the deals?”

Further muddying the water for residents, Rosenberg noted, is the fact outside groups posing as the state are attempting to purchase land in the project area in order to sell it to the IEDC at a higher amount.

“We fully support the free market, but condemn any bullying tactics being employed by these third parties who do not represent the IEDC,” he said. “If a resident has a question on who is doing the negotiating, they should contact the IEDC.

In the meantime, the Boone County Preservation Group says it will continue to educate residents about the potential effects of the project while giving input on how it should be developed.

“Being cautious is important,” attorney Andreoli recently told landowners.

“If you have the right information, and that information is provided to you in an upfront and transparent manner, you’re entitled to make the decision on your own property. But don’t be stampeded into making that decision.”

#inform-video-player-3 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }