(Portage, IN) – After several months of negotiations and competition between the cities of Portage and Hobart, Holladay Properties is pleased to announce that Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. has selected AmeriPlex at the Port as the site of their new Northwest Indiana operations center.

“One of the reasons we were drawn to”¦Northwest Indiana is [its] proximity to key resources and business partners as our services continue to broaden in scope and geography,” Melvin Gray, Chairman and CEO of the Graycor Companies, said.  “We appreciate being warmly welcomed by the community and are excited about the new location, which will facilitate improvements in the quality and efficiency of our services.”

According to their website, Graycor is consistently ranked one of Chicago’s largest privately held companies.  The company has evolved from its founding in 1921 as a maintenance and demolition contractor to a fully integrated provider of construction, maintenance and related services.

The new facility, which is expected to be completed in summer of 2011, will offer 44,000 square feet of general office, warehouse, and vehicle and equipment maintenance space as well as a fabrication shop area.  The site will also provide an equipment storage yard.  The Portage City Council has already given its approval to grant a 10-year real estate and a five-year personal property tax abatement for the new facility.

Holladay had been working with representatives from Graycor since February regarding the new development before the final decision was made in October.  Months of negotiations and effort paid off when Graycor announced they had chosen Portage over Hobart for their new location.

“We are very excited to be welcoming Graycor to a new facility in AmeriPlex,” Tim Healy, Senior Vice President of Development of Holladay Properties said.  “We worked hard to prove to them that AmeriPlex was the right location for their new building,” Healy added.

Graycor was the general contractor on many facilities in AmeriPlex at the Port, including Bass Pro Shops and currently have a local office in the business park.  Their new facility in AmeriPlex and another one in Oakbrook Terrence, Ill. will replace their current headquarters in Homewood, Ill.

Related Articles:

Graycor holds groundbreaking for new building – NWI Times 11/5/10

Graycor picks Portage over Hobart – NWI Times 10/6/10