Blue Steel buys 309 acres in Shelbyville for $175M industrial project

Florida-based developer Blue Steel Development purchased 309.3 acres along Old Finchville Road in Shelbyville, Kentucky, for $20 million on November 9. The company intends to invest $175 million to build two distribution centers on the site.

The project, named Steel 64, will provide nearly 1.8 million square feet of industrial space. The larger facility will measure 1.4 million square feet, while the second building will be 362,909 square feet. Both structures will sit less than a mile from Interstate 64.

Design specifications include clear heights of 40 feet and 36 feet. The site plan features double row trailer parking and a dedicated trailer drop yard to handle logistics operations.

Austin Jones, founding principal and president of Blue Steel, said the location offers large-scale modern industrial space within the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area. "Steel 64 gives us the opportunity to deliver large-scale, modern industrial space in a highly accessible location within the Louisville MSA," Jones stated in a release. He noted that immediate access to I-64 and nearby manufacturers position the company to serve users seeking new capacity.

Jones told Louisville Business First that the number of employees the development will hire has not yet been determined. The company did not provide a construction timeline or an expected completion date for the project.