Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor celebrate Lake Michigan port’s first new warehouse in 25 years

Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor has broken ground on the first new warehouse constructed at the Lake Michigan port in 25 years.

Wednesday’s groundbreaking kicked off a $10 million project to construct an 84,000 square-foot warehouse and 1.65-acre laydown yard adjacent to Burns Harbor’s Berth 2. The facility will occupy 4 acres of undeveloped land along the port’s east harbor arm.

“We’re excited to break ground on the port’s first new warehouse in 25 years and expand our capacity for handling critical cargoes,” said Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock. “The Berth 2 Warehouse is a key component of $77 million in multimodal expansion at Burns Harbor, and it will provide customers with greater supply chain flexibility and new export opportunities.”

The facility is scheduled to open in early 2026, supplementing the port's 640,000 square feet of warehouse space spread over five buildings. Ports of Indiana has not yet named an operator for the new facility.

“This exciting project is an important supply chain enhancement for our customers and Northwest Indiana businesses who move or consume commodities representing the building blocks of our industrial economy,” said Burns Harbor Port Director Ryan McCoy. “Local exporters will have the opportunity to reach new customers worldwide thanks to this new port asset.”

Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor occupies 600 acres at the southern tip of Lake Michigan within sight of downtown Chicago and a day's drive from nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population. The port handles an average of 3 million tons of cargo annually, with shipments evenly split between bulk commodities and breakbulk cargos such as steel products and project cargo.

The port is also developing an international container terminal that will introduce a new type of cargo shipment to the 55-year-old facility in 2026.