JEFFERSONVILLE (March 16, 2021) – In the past year, the River Ridge Development Authority (RRDA) made significant economic impact in the region by incentivizing private development, attracting businesses, and preparing the business park for future development. This included completing or commencing work on nearly 1.6 million square feet of commercial space.
The River Ridge Commerce Center produced an estimated total of $2.5 billion in economic output, or the total value of all transactions resulting from the center, according to an Economic Impact Analysis conducted by Policy Analytics. The business activity at River Ridge helped create or support over 17,500 jobs across a wide variety of sectors, equating to $700 million in labor income for the Southern Indiana/Louisville region, the report found.
Private development activity continued at a strong pace in 2020, with an estimated $143 million in capital development. Structures developed by VanTrust Real Estate, PharmaCord, and HempRise were all substantially completed last year, and significant projects by America Place and Gray Construction are underway. Hollenbach-Oakley also broke ground on the first Class A office building at River Ridge’s new Gateway Office and Research Campus.
As a continued effort toward long-term growth, RRDA completed $10 million in capital infrastructure projects in 2020. This work included the demolition of unused military structures on the north end of the property and continued infrastructure work near the Indiana SR 265 interchange. The RRDA is also investing in improving the capacity of its utilities to maintain pace with demand as the Commerce Center grows.
“Despite the challenges of 2020, we were able to attract major new employers and produce strong returns for our region, as independently quantified in our Economic Impact Analysis report,” said River Ridge Executive Director Jerry Acy.
The Commerce Center is now home to more than 60 firms and 10,500 employees.
Recent additions included PharmaCord, DENSO, HempRise, and Medline.
Key highlights from the report include:
- In the past year, developers have completed or commenced work on nearly 1.6 million square feet of commercial space.
- The RRDA generated more than $16 million in total operating revenues and invested $10 million in capital improvement projects in 2020.
- Business activity at River Ridge supported approximately 17,500 jobs throughout the region in 2020.
- Private developers completed an estimated $143 million in construction projects in 2020.
- The River Ridge employment impact generates substantial annual tax revenues including:
- $7.6 million in local income tax revenue
- $18.1 million in State sales tax revenue
- $17.0 million in State income tax revenue
- The River Ridge Commerce Center included 60 River Ridge companies and nearly 10,500 workers in 2020.
- The RRDA’s new development activity included investment projects to lay the groundwork for future development consisting of roadway improvements, the extension of utilities, and site preparation. Development also included partnerships with local civil entities. Land grants have now been made to Charlestown, Jeffersonville, and to Utica Township, to facilitate public uses at the Commerce Center.
- Private developers completed more than one million square feet of commercial and industrial space and began construction on an additional 400,000 square for an estimated investment value of $144 million.
- Hollenbach-Oakley began construction on a 45,000 square foot office building which will house the RRDA and several Clark County government offices. This is the first Class A office building in the Gateway area and is intended to be the first of several office buildings in the district.