A European-based company wants to build its United States headquarters in Shelbyville.

Ron Kelsay, of Genesis Property Development, delivered more details of a proposed project to the Shelbyville Common Council Monday morning as part of its request to annex and rezone an approximate 33-acre parcel of land located just east of Shelbyville along State Road 44.

“It is still a project in development but I can tell you the proposed facility that would go into that location is an agricultural-based manufacturing facility,” explained Kelsay. “It will use crops grown exclusively in Indiana and farms throughout Indiana, including hopefully some in Shelby County and Marion (County).”

While the design of the facility is not yet complete, Kelsay anticipates several buildings will sit on the property totaling upward of 250,000 square feet.

“We have no plans in this project to build huge concrete warehouses as you see in other communities,” stated Kelsay to alleviate concerns that was part of the project.

The as-yet-named company is looking at an initial investment of $70 million that will include utilizing downtown Shelbyville office space and residential options.

“One of the reasons they picked Shelbyville is because it is a rural agricultural community but also a city that is growing and has a lot of great things going on,” said Kelsay. “One thing in particular that caught their attention was the downtown redevelopment. They were really impressed with the investment Shelbyville did with their downtown, with space for the community and its citizens.”

Genesis Property Development, located in Shelbyville, currently owns the Methodist Building (photo) and the former Chase Bank building on the downtown Public Square and is now in the process of purchasing the Knights of Pythias building. All three buildings will potentially be used by this company.

“This company needs facilities to house some employees and office space and we already have agreements with them for the Methodist Building, the Chase building and we are finalizing plans to purchase the Knights of Pythias building,” said Kelsay. “It’s not directly tied to the plan but its part of them coming to Shelbyville and bringing their corporate headquarters. That is a huge portion of all the vacant buildings in downtown Shelbyville. It’s a huge investment to bring those fantastic old buildings back to life.

“Those types of developments are expensive and risky because they are old, and in some cases historic buildings, it is very difficult to find someone willing to come in and take that risk and make that investment in those types of buildings. This is an opportunity, in addition to everything else mentioned, to have a partner come in and invest in the community. It’s the final piece in what the city was trying to achieve with the downtown in terms of bringing people in and revitalizing downtown and making it a great gathering space for citizens.”

The annexation and rezoning of the property for industrial development was approved 5-0. Councilmen Nathan Willis and Thurman Adams were not in attendance at the meeting.