Noblesville considers $2.4M incentive deal to retain tech firm

Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear is offering incentives to a homegrown e-commerce consulting firm with the hope another city doesn’t steal it away.

The preliminary deal with Blue Sky Technology includes $2.4 million from the city to design, permit and complete improvements on 1.55 acres on the southwest corner of John and Osborn streets, where the company would build a new headquarters.

The multi-story facility would include 40,000 square feet and be named the “Blue Sky Building.”

The Noblesville Common Council was scheduled to discuss a resolution Feb. 24 that would approve Ditslear’s offer to the tech company, but the resolution was continued. The resolution mentions another municipality is courting the company, but doesn’t specify which city.

Noblesville Economic Development Director Judi Johnson was not immediately available for comment.

Blue Sky, which was founded in 2006, plans to have 55 to 60 employees at its current location on Herriman Boulevard by the end of 2015. It expects to add another 10 to 15 before completion of the new headquarters in 2016. The average employee salary is more than $95,000.

In addition to purchasing the land for Blue Sky, the city would construct a parking lot with about 100 spaces and provide lighting for it, erect retention walls on the east and west borders of the property, build curbs, install on-site drainage and conduct an environmental survey.

The parking lot would be north of Osborn Street and would be completed either by 2019 or whenever Blue Sky needed it, depending on which is later. The company would either pay a fee for the parking lot or lease it from the city.

The parking is expected to be available to the public on nights and weekends.

The city would spend $1.2 million to buy two parcels to the north, where two homes now sit, and vacate the northern section of Osborn Street that is contiguous with the headquarters property. The land would be cleared for future parking needs. It would accommodate 80 additional spaces.

The city already has spent $60,000 to acquire one of the houses on the property.

The offer also includes a waiver of road impact fees and sewer tap-on fees.

This story has been updated.