Indianapolis Warehouse Market: Crossroads Logistics and Industrial Real Estate Opportunities
Brian Doyle serves as senior vice president and market officer for Link Logistics in Indianapolis, where he oversees nearly 11 million square feet of warehouse and industrial properties across Indiana's capital city. With deep knowledge of the Indianapolis industrial real estate market, Brian helps businesses capitalize on the region's central U.S. location and favorable business climate. Link Logistics’ Indianapolis portfolio spans diverse property types from 2,000-square-foot incubator spaces to million-square-foot distribution centers, strategically positioned across the metro area to serve industries such as e-commerce, third-party logistics, manufacturing and healthcare. In this Q&A, Brian discusses Indianapolis warehouse space for lease—what drives demand, why the state's mega site strategy attracts major investments and how the market has rebounded from post-pandemic oversupply.
What drives demand for industrial real estate in Indianapolis?
Brian: There are three key factors. First and foremost is location. Indianapolis is a 350-million-square-foot market located in the center of the country. Everyone has heard Indianapolis referred to as the "Crossroads of America," and that's very much in play here. Four major interstates converge in the metro, highlighted by I-65, which is a major north-south thoroughfare. From Indianapolis, you can reach upwards of 60% of the U.S. population within a day's truck drive. Then on top of that, FedEx's second-largest air cargo hub is located in Indianapolis, behind only Memphis. The combination of ground and air connectivity is powerful.
The second piece is the business climate, which is very favorable. Indiana offers a competitive tax abatement structure, and lower utility costs compared to many markets. These factors make overall operating costs very competitive and compelling.
The third factor is the group of leading industries here: logistics, e-commerce, third-party logistics providers, manufacturing and healthcare. Those sectors drive consistent demand for warehouse space in Indianapolis.
What emerging trends should businesses know about in Indianapolis?
Brian: Indiana has created what it calls mega sites across the state to attract major companies from around the globe to build campuses and make large-scale investments.
One prominent mega site is located in Lebanon, in the northwest part of the Indianapolis metro on I-65. Most recently, Eli Lilly—which is based in Indianapolis—announced a nearly $5 billion investment in a campus-like environment where they'll manufacture high-demand pharmaceutical drugs. This mega site concept, with local and state incentives plus infrastructure support from the government, competes with similar initiatives across the country.
Companies that operate at the scale of Eli Lilly aren't looking regionally—they're looking across the entire country for the most attractive location for their business, operations and supply chain, combined with tax-friendly incentives and job creation benefits. Indianapolis is increasingly winning those competitions. Amazon, Carvana, Kimball Electronics and a major Swiss biotech company are just a few examples of organizations that announced substantial investments in Indianapolis in 2025.
How does Link Logistics support companies looking for warehouse space in Indianapolis?
Brian: We're one of the top three industrial landlords in the metro, with nearly 11 million square feet of warehouse space. Our industrial product type is extremely diverse—flex, midsize, shallow bay, front-load, rear-load and bulk distribution. We're also strategically located across the metro, basically covering the entire market.
We have business park assets with spaces that can accommodate 2,000-square-foot tenants—incubator companies, service businesses and other smaller operations—and we also have million-square-foot buildings that can handle traditional e-commerce users. We have a strong track record of expanding and growing tenants who do everything from manufacturing to last-mile distribution within our portfolio.
I'd say we see more tenant expansions in Indianapolis than in some other markets, partly because we have those smaller spaces where startup-type companies that might have been working out of a garage or home can sign a lease for 1,800 square feet. Three years later they might be in 7,200 square feet, and then they continue to grow from there. Those types of users tend to grow rapidly when they're scaling up, and we can accommodate that growth by tearing down walls, building walls or opening up spaces. Just last year we had three or four different tenant expansions, working with them hand-in-hand to accommodate their growing needs.
What's the current state of Indianapolis's industrial market?
Brian: In the post-pandemic environment, Indianapolis quickly became overbuilt. We had low-cost land and relatively cheap development costs. A lot of merchant developers rushed in, broke ground and built similar types of buildings—mostly 600,000 square feet or larger.
When demand slowed down, the market was left with significant supply. It became a very tenant-friendly market for a period, and bulk leasing activity came to almost a screeching halt. But the market sentiment has shifted, and it's roaring back. We've seen a lot of bulk leasing activity, especially in the fourth quarter of 2025. Indianapolis has become a top 10 industrial market in the country for leasing activity according to CBRE.
Looking ahead, what does this mean for businesses considering Indianapolis?
Brian: What we're seeing now suggests a heightened sense of urgency for 2026. With the surge in leasing activity absorbing much of that post-pandemic supply, we'll likely see increased rental rate growth and eventually more construction as developers respond to tightening availability.
Those buildings that sat vacant for a while are getting absorbed. For businesses considering warehouse space in Indianapolis, the window of tenant-friendly conditions is narrowing. Indianapolis has always been viewed as a lower-cost alternative to East Coast, West Coast and primary inland markets across the country, and that remains largely true even as the market tightens. The fundamental advantages remain—central location reaching 60% of the U.S. population, favorable business climate, diverse industry base and strong infrastructure. But the supply surplus that created enhanced bargaining power for tenants is diminishing as the market returns to more typical fundamentals.
Explore available warehouse and distribution space in Indianapolis to learn more about industrial real estate opportunities in the Crossroads of America.
