Bridgestone’s consolidation plan to cost Carmel 400 jobs

Bridgestone Americas Inc. plans to relocate three business units into a new headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, including two units in Carmel that employ about 400 workers.

Bridgestone announced Tuesday that it would move its headquarters near Nashville International Airport to a new downtown building that will allow it to consolidate its current staff with three out-of-state business units.

Those units include Firestone Building Products and Firestone Industrial Products in Carmel, and Bridgestone Retail Operations, which is based in Bloomingdale, Ill.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam joined Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and other officials at a press conference Tuesday to announce that the Japanese tire maker is moving from its current headquarters mainly because it needs more space.

The headquarters will house employees currently based in Nashville, as well as the three out-of-state business units, increasing the number of workers at the headquarters by more than 600.

Nashville competed with several other cities around the country to keep the Bridgestone headquarters. The proposed 514,000-square-foot, 30-story facility is valued at more than $232 million and is expected to be completed in 2017.

Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty said the state's incentive package won't become public until December.

Dean said the city's incentive package will total about $50 million. That includes a complete property tax abatement for 20 years, and $500 for each new job added beyond the current staffing level for seven years.

Dean stressed the economic impact of the workers making a median annual salary of about $90,000 will have on downtown Nashville.

"The taxes we're collecting for this piece of property right now are probably somewhere in the $100,000 range," Dean said. "They're building a $200 million building here that's going to employ hundreds of people. It's a big win for the city."