FedEx Breaks Ground on $15 Million Indiana Terminal
Workers have broken ground on a $15 million FedEx Freight terminal in South Bend, Indiana.
The 73,000-square-foot terminal, which is expected to open in March, is near the intersection of the Indiana Toll Road and St. Joseph Valley Parkway.
The new distribution center will take the place of an existing FedEx Freight facility about a half-mile away. A manager at that operation confirmed that its 150 employees will be relocated to work at the new facility when it opens.
FedEx ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
A FedEx representative did not respond July 18 to a request for information about whether the new terminal could result in additional jobs. The project is being led by Lexington, Kentucky-based Setzer Properties, and the general contractor is Majority Builders of South Bend.
“FedEx has outgrown their current facility, and that’s why they’re building the new one,” said Rob Sangdahl, vice president of Setzer, which develops FedEx distribution centers nationwide. “The location is good because it fits with where all of their other facilities are nationwide. Everything needs to be within a certain proximity.”
A 215,000-square-foot FedEx Ground facility opened earlier this summer at the business park, which has a handful of industrial buildings. Unlike FedEx Ground, which delivers packages, FedEx Freight makes industrial shipments in bulk quantities.
Sangdahl said Setzer bought the property for about $2 million from Holladay Properties. He said Setzer will lease the property to FedEx Freight for a long-term period, but he could not say how long.
The cross-dock terminal will have about 100 loading positions for trucks, he said, with parking for employees and tractor-trailer drivers.
Paul Phair, vice president of development for Holladay, did not return a call July 19 seeking comment.
