IJW buys extra land for more bourbon storage

Published 7:25 pm Thursday, February 28, 2019

A whiskey company building rickhouses for bourbon storage on the west edge of Danville is acquiring additional land from the Boyle County Industrial Foundation in order to keep building.

IJW Whiskey gained a pair of approvals from the Danville-Boyle County Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday to build two more rickhouses, using an additional 13 acres it’s buying from the Industrial Foundation.

IJW already owns 32 acres off of Lebanon Road on the far western edge of the Boyle County Industrial Park, where it has built two rickhouses and is constructing a third. The company also has an option on about 110 more acres from the Industrial Foundation, which it could purchase as it expands.

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P&Z approved a subdivision and site plan for IJW on Wednesday unanimously and with little discussion.

Jody Lassiter, president and CEO of Develop Danville, was present as a representative for IJW. Lassiter said earlier this month that the Industrial Foundation is “working closely with IJW to accommodate its aggressive growth objectives.”

“The only change in scope of which I’m aware is that the customer/visitor center planned for a future phase of the project may not be located at the south end of the property at Lebanon Road as previously envisioned,” Lassiter said. “Instead, it may be included as part of a future construction phase north of the rickhouses now completed or under construction. This would minimize future traffic access to the property from its Lebanon Road entrance, and instead direct future traffic from Corporate Drive via a planned access road.”

According to initial concept plans filed with the P&Z office, IJW wants to build as many as 17 rickhouses — large, multi-story warehouses used to age bourbon — a distillery and the visitor center Lassiter mentioned.

In November, IJW spent $2.9 million on “Whiskey Row” building in downtown Louisville that is expected to serve as the company’s headquarters.