Irving Materials planning to relocate HQ from Greenfield to Carmel

Greenfield-based Irving Materials Inc. plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to a building that would be constructed near West 111th and Illinois streets in Carmel. (Rendering courtesy city of Carmel)

Irving Materials Inc., a privately held construction materials company that has been based in Greenfield since its founding 77 years ago, plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Carmel.

The company plans to construct a 64,000-square-foot, four-story building with covered parking for 187 vehicles near the southwest corner of West 111th and North Meridian streets, according to documents filed with the city of Carmel. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2023.

A future second office building for Irving Materials would be constructed elsewhere on the now-vacant 19-acre property south of the KAR Auction Services Inc. headquarters.

Irving Materials is currently headquartered at 8032 S.R. 9 in Greenfield. Its existing headquarters was built in 1962.

A spokesperson with Irving Materials and an attorney representing the company in its filings with the city declined to discuss the company’s move in detail, but the company did provide IBJ with a short press release.

IMI has more than 4,000 employees working at more than 150 plants throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The company said it employs Hoosiers in 86 of Indiana’s 92 counties, but it declined to say how many of those employees work in Greenfield or how many would be shifted to Carmel.

The “new corporate headquarters is central to the company’s continued growth plans,” IMI said in the press release.

“The headquarters’ relocation and expansion will provide the infrastructure we need to support our almost 4,000 employees and our expanding footprint,” IMI Pete Lyons said in a written statement.

Indianapolis-based Meridian Development Realty LLC has owned the Carmel property site since March 2021, according to Hamilton County property records. The land was valued at $2.1 million as of Jan. 1.

The Carmel Technical Advisory Commission will discuss plans for the company’s headquarters at its Feb. 15 meeting, at which Irving Materials will seek site plan and design approval.

C.C. “Skunk” Irving founded Irving Materials in 1946. The company produces building materials for the construction industry, including aggregates, ready-mix concrete and asphalt.

Irving Materials operates a concrete production facility at 5244 E. 96th St. in Carmel. The location has an Indianapolis address, but it is on the north side of East 96th Street.

IMI Aggregates operates mining, crushing and sorting facilities throughout Indiana, and IMI Concrete delivers ready-mix concrete to construction sites in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, southwestern Ohio and northern Alabama.

Irving Materials’ construction services divisions, E&B Paving Inc. and Specialties Co. LLC, specialize in site development, highway and civil construction.

A quarry where Citizens Energy constructed an 88-acre reservoir adjacent to Geist Reservoir was owned by Irving Materials, which used it to supply limestone for more than five decades before closing the operation in 2018.

In 2005, Irving Materials was ordered to pay a $29 million fine—the largest fine in a domestic antitrust investigation in history at the time—for conspiring with competitors to fix the price of ready-mix concrete in the Indianapolis area. Four company executives were sentenced to prison for their roles in the scheme.

Carmel is home to 130 corporate headquarters, including Delta Faucet Co., Allegion and CNO Financial Group.

Elanco Animal Health announced plans in December 2020 to relocate its corporate headquarters from Greenfield to Indianapolis. Elanco is constructing a 220,000-square-foot, six-story, glass-faced office structure on 40 acres just west of downtown Indianapolis.