Westfield approves 10-year tax abatement for new warehouse building

The Westfield City Council has OK'd a tax break for a new commercial warehouse building that's expected to bring light manufacturing and distribution companies to the area.

Oak Ridge Road LLC requested the 10-year real property tax abatement before constructing a 125,000-square-foot facility on eight acres at 17001 Oak Ridge Road to the north of the 169th Street intersection.

The project is projected to cost $3.5 million and could provide space for between one and six tenants for light manufacturing and storage and distribution purposes. It is expected to create 17 new jobs with an annual payroll of $530,400, according to project documents.

The abatement will be 100 percent for the first year and will be reduced by 10 percentage points each of the following years. The total estimated amount of the abatement is $468,622 over the 10-year period.

Carter Jackson, managing member at Jackson Commercial Real Estate and developer for the project, told the city council that Keystone Avenue improvements and U.S. 31 upgrades will make it easier for companies to locate in Westfield because access to Interstate 465 will be easier.

He said he expects to start construction April 1 and complete it by the end of the year.

“Brokers and tenants know that new buildings in central Indiana come with tax abatements,” Jackson said, adding that rent prices would be 20 percent higher without the abatement. “No marketing effort can overcome that difference.”

The council approved the abatement unanimously.

“As much as I hate to give tax abatements to anybody, it is—as was pointed out—a reality in today’s marketplace,” council member Steve Hoover said. “This is consistent with other abatements we’ve given.”