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Valparaiso development offers flexible space, brings jobs to city

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By Curtis Hankins, GreatNews.Life

Holladay and Barley Properties have nearly completed a huge new development located just north of Indiana Beverage on Barley Road. The Bluejay 1 Building is a $5.3 million investment is a flexible building, with room for a number of tenants looking for warehousing, manufacturing, logistical, or office space.

In total, the new building offers 65,592 square feet of space dividable into multiple sections to fit whatever needs a tenant might have. The owner, Barley Properties hired Holladay Properties as developer and Holladay Construction Group as General Contractor. Holladay already demonstrated huge success with these sorts of flex buildings in Michigan City and Portage.

“The idea here is to provide an economical space for small- to medium-sized tenants,” said Michael O’Connor, leasing agent for the new building and vice president of development and leasing for Holladay Properties. “There isn’t really anything similar to this in Valparaiso. Most everything else that’s free-standing is for single-tenants and has filled up.”

The new building is already drawing interest from businesses both local and national. The first tenant, TLC Companies, is set to move in once construction is finished. They offer risk management, payroll services, administration, and benefit packages to transportation companies. Altogether, they will bring around 50 jobs to Valparaiso.

“TLC is taking just a little over ten percent of the building, and that’s already fifty jobs,” O’Connor said. “It’s definitely an economic boost. Plus, thanks to the way the building is designed, local companies are taking an interest because of how easy it would be to expand.”

The flexibility means that a local business could set up light manufacturing or warehouse space right next door to TLC Companies’ office space. Everything from the ceiling height to parking lot is designed to allow diverse businesses to operate seamlessly within the same space.

“There’s a lot of excitement now that the building is mostly finished, with the lights on and the glass up,” said George Douglas, General Manager of Indiana Beverage and Representative of Barley Properties. “People are really seeing the progress and getting excited about it, we’ve been getting more inquires about the space and availability.”

Douglas, a lifelong Valparaiso resident, is particularly proud to bring the development to his hometown.

“It’s a beautiful building in a great location, right on [State Road] 49,” Douglas said. “It’s a proven model that Holladay Properties has used and there’s nothing quite like it here in Valpo. If it’s well received and everything goes well, we’ve got land right behind it to build a second building.”

For leasing opportunities at the Bluejay 1 Building, contact Michael O’Connor. For development inquiries in Northwest Indiana, contact Mike Micka

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