Shepherdsville stands to gain 365 full-time jobs when Alliance Entertainment LLC expands its presence in the Bullitt County city.
Commercial Real Estate Louisville Business First By John R. Karman III and Brent Adams – Business First Staff Writers
Jun 2, 2008 Updated May 29, 2008, 6:02pm EDT
The company, a subsidiary of publisher and media distributor Source Interlink Companies Inc., announced plans earlier this week to open a 404,000-square-foot distribution center in the city next month.
Alliance, which already operates in Bullitt County, plans to lease the space in a $30 million bulk facility that developer Lee Wilburn, president of Crossdock Development Inc., constructed in the 420-acre Cedar Grove Business Park.
The Coral Springs, Fla.-based distributor will process customer orders of DVDs, CDs, magazines, video games and books for some of the nation’s largest retailers, including Walgreens, Barnes and Noble, Toys ‘R’ Us, Sears, Kmart, Meijer, Circuit City, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Borders.
Alliance will begin processing new customer orders at the facility next month. It will start processing customer returns in October.
Company gets preliminary approval for $1.5 million in tax incentives
The new Alliance facility will replace a 168,000-square-foot distribution center that the company has leased for five years in Cedar Grove.
The owner of that facility is Pro Logis Trust, the Denver-based real estate investment trust.
The Shepherdsville facility is one of two distribution centers operated by Alliance. The other is in Coral Springs.
Alliance formally announced plans for the expansion project during a May 29 meeting of the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority in Frankfort.
The KEDFA board granted the company preliminary approval for $1.5 million in state tax incentives for up to 10 years.
This isn’t the first time Alliance has proposed an expansion of its operations in Bullitt County.
In October, the company announced plans to open a 200,000-square-foot distribution center in nearby Hillview, adding about 80 jobs.
Those plans were amended as the company has grown, according to plans on file with the state.
Growth expected to continue
Nancy Zakhary, a spokeswoman for the company, declined to provide details about the company’s expansion plans, saying only that it expects “definite growth” during the next 24 months.
Bob Fouts, director of the Bullitt County Economic Development Authority, said Alliance currently has 214 employees at its Cedar Grove facility and is a “solid corporate citizen.”
The company opened in Bullitt County in 2003 with 85 workers.
“We’re definitely excited about the expansion,” Fouts said.
The signed lease with Alliance gives Wilburn his first tenant in the distribution facility, which he proposed as a speculative venture two years ago. Construction began last year.
The build-out is wrapping up at the facility, which will top out at 664,000 square feet. Alliance has an option to lease the remainder of the space, according to Wilburn.
David Davis, a broker with Louisville-based Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate, represented Crossdock Development in the lease agreement. Kevin Grove of CB Richard Ellis/Louisville was the local broker who represented Alliance.
Wilburn said the distributor’s expansion plans underscore the viability of Cedar Grove and the market for industrial properties in Bullitt County.
The park is located in the Interstate 65 corridor, close to Louisville International Airport and the United Parcel Service Inc. air hub.
He called landing Alliance as a tenant quite a coup for Crossdock Development.
“We’re delighted to have them,” he said. “They’ve been great to work with.”