Manufacturing News
November 13, 2026
November 13, 2026 · Statewide · Story 3 of 5
Oxford Properties Finances $155 Million Rail-Yard Redevelopment in Columbus, Ohio
JLL Capital Markets arranged a $155 million construction loan from Oxford Properties for Buckeye Yards, a four building, 1.79 million square foot industrial development on a former Norfolk Southern rail yard in Columbus, Ohio. The 153 acre first phase sits near the I-70/I-270 interchange and carries a 10-year tax abatement.
The deal closes four to five years behind the project's original 2021 timeline, a sign of how long capital markets froze speculative industrial construction after the 2022-2024 cost and rate shock. It's also an unresolved environmental question: rail classification yards carry known diesel and creosote contamination, and it isn't clear whether Norfolk Southern kept remediation liability or passed it to Xebec for the unbuilt 253 acre second phase. For Indiana manufacturers sitting on old rail-adjacent or brownfield sites, Oxford's willingness to lend here alongside a 10-year abatement shows institutional capital is actively chasing this kind of property in the Midwest, competition Indiana counties should be positioning to match.
- Impact
- The deal closes roughly four to five years behind the project's original 2021 timeline, a visible marker of how long capital markets froze speculative industrial construction after the 2022-2024 cost and rate shock. It's also a brownfield conversion story with an unresolved environmental question: rail classification yards carry known diesel and creosote contamination risk, and it's unclear whether Norfolk Southern retained remediation liability or passed it to Xebec, a detail that will matter for the site's unbuilt 253-acre Phase 2. For Indiana manufacturers eyeing similar stranded rail or brownfield sites for expansion, Oxford's willingness to lend $155 million here, alongside a 10-year abatement, shows institutional capital is actively chasing old industrial infrastructure in rail-adjacent Midwest corridors, competition Indiana communities should be positioning to match.
- Watch
- Whether Buckeye Yards' 910,000-square-foot anchor building pre-leases before Phase 1 delivery, given Columbus bulk industrial vacancy has compressed nearly 3.5% over the past year.
- For the huddle
Do we have any underused rail-adjacent or former industrial sites in our footprint that could attract this kind of institutional construction financing if we packaged a tax abatement ask to our county?
Sources
From the brief, November 13, 2026
- AEP and Amazon Study 12 Nuclear Reactors in Sullivan County, Indiana
- Autocam Medical Opens $70 Million Warsaw Orthopedic Plant, Hiring Toward 300 Jobs
- Oxford Properties Finances $155 Million Rail-Yard Redevelopment in Columbus, Ohio
- Purdue and Accenture Scale Smart Manufacturing Training in West Lafayette
- Toyota Invests $34 Million in Princeton to Build the Scion KEI-01 Kei Truck
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