A tract of land sold by the Gary Redevelopment Commission on Wednesday signals more growth at Buffington Harbor as Mayor Eddie Melton’s administration cements the shift from casino boats to industry along Lake Michigan.
SP TP Gary Development LLC won the bid for the purchase of 78 acres in Buffington Harbor for $4.7 million. Officials said it would be developed as a warehouse distribution center, but its new tenant wasn’t named.
The “SP” in the company also wasn’t disclosed, but state filings in January show the company’s registered agent is Marc Pfleging, general counsel for Scannell Properties LLC, based in Indianapolis. Robert Scannell, president and co-founder of real estate developer Scannell Properties, is listed on the state’s incorporation papers as a governing partner.
Scannell has built warehouse distribution centers for FedEx across the country, leading to speculation that the global transportation company would be coming to Gary.
The nearby Gary/Chicago International Airport is ramping up a $67 million cargo expansion on its north side. In 2020, UPS began air delivery cargo service operations and later signed a long-term lease with the airport.
The “TP” in the company name is Transport Properties, which purchased 123 acres from Majestic Star Casino LLC in 2023.
Redevelopment director Christopher Harris said SP TP Gary Development’s plans include a warehouse distribution center with a manufacturing component. He said the company is eyeing a construction start date in the second quarter of 2025 with a 14-month project duration.
Harris said SP TP Gary Development plans to invest about $40 million in capital improvements to the site, once home to the Lehigh Cement Co. He said no city or state incentives were part of the deal.
“It aligns with Mayor Melton’s vision of providing job opportunities to our residents and leveraging our world-class transportation structure,” said Harris.
Previously, the administration of former Mayor Jerome Prince endorsed a controversial plan for Fulcrum BioEnergy to build a waste-to-energy plant on the site. That sale cratered, and the company filed for bankruptcy last year.
Tim McCahill, managing partner for Transport Properties, said the company has been investing in Gary properties for about eight years.
Last year, Transport Properties sold 77 acres at Buffington Harbor to Indiana Sugars, a 101-year-old Gary-based bulk sugar supplier for the food industry.
The company planned to expand elsewhere until Melton and Transport Properties made a sales pitch for the Buffington Harbor site, which offers a deep-water port and proximity to intermodal transportation.
After the sale, Indiana Sugars said it hoped to open its new plant this year.
When Indiana legalized casino gaming, Buffington Harbor became home to two casino boats in the 1990s, including one owned by President Donald Trump, who also built a hotel. The city hoped to jump-start an entertainment district at the gritty harbor where U.S. Steel’s cement division was once housed.
That big dream didn’t materialize as the Gary boats typically trailed other Lake Michigan casino boats in revenue and popularity.
In 2019, state lawmakers authorized a land-based casino, which later became Hard Rock Northern Indiana, off Burr Street.
City officials and Melton, who was a state senator then, agreed Buffington Harbor should revert to its industrial roots.
Melton added legislation to the land-based bill aimed at establishing an intermodal compact to govern operations at the harbor, but lawmakers stripped it out and instead backed a study committee that confirmed Buffington Harbor’s potential to transform the region.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
