McCORDSVILLE — In their first of two votes on the matter, officials narrowly approved a request to annex land south of town where a 1-million-square-foot building is proposed.
Al. Neyer, a Cincinnati-based developer, is collaborating with the land’s owners to seek the annexation of about 62 acres south of West County Road 600N east of Mt. Comfort Road. The site is across 600N from McCordsville’s Woodhaven neighborhood, where residents have expressed concerns about traffic and disturbances spurred by the project. Al. Neyer’s development would be speculative, meaning no occupants have yet been secured.
McCordsville Town Council on Tuesday evening, June 8, approved the first reading of an ordinance outlining the annexation 3-2, with Larry Longman, Tom Strayer and Branden Williams voting in favor and Greg Brewer and Barry Wood voting against.
Briane House, a lawyer with Greenfield-based Pritzke & Davis representing the annexation petitioners, said the proposal is yet another example of the potential developers see in western Hancock County for the e-commerce sector, and the economic benefits that come with it.
“The tax base dramatically increases for the county, and particularly over time the tax revenue only becomes stronger, allowing communities such as McCordsville to do more and more for its citizens, for its schools, for public safety and so on,” House said.
The land is zoned industrial through the county, a classification that already permits the kind of structure the developer looks to build. Al. Neyer wants to be in McCordsville, however, where the company proposes phasing in its property taxes over a 10-year period in a way that’d be more beneficial than the schedule the county is accustomed to granting. The developer would use that incentive to offset its costs associated with annexing and help build part of Aurora Way, a planned road extending east off Mt. Comfort Road between 500N and 600N. Aurora Way would keep the development’s truck traffic off 600N and away from Woodhaven. In the future, McCordsville officials hope to continue extending the road eastward to serve further developments anticipated in the area.
“But it will take a development like this and the collaborative commitment that Neyer is willing to make to launch Aurora Way,” House said. “It is not, as desirable as it may be, a project the town of McCordsville can finance on its own.”
The property’s current tax liability is just under $6,000 a year. Al. Neyer’s proposed development is estimated to generate nearly $5.7 million in real property taxes throughout the 10-year abatement period. More than $6.8 million would be abated during that time — savings the developer says it will pass on to future tenants. After the abatement period is over, annual real property taxes are estimated at more than $1.2 million a year.
House pointed out that under county standards, the building could be just 50 feet from the 600N right-of-way. Under Al. Neyer’s proposal, however, that distance would grow to 355 feet, and include mounding, landscaping, a water feature for drainage and parking.
“This project presents an opportunity to exercise a degree of control that McCordsville would not otherwise have,” House added. “This project, in large measure, places certain and important considerations in the hands of your staff working in conjunction with elected and appointed officials.”
Longman agreed, adding annexation would secure protections for Woodhaven by keeping the building farther from 600N and keeping trucks off the road.
“I really think there is no reason why we should not do this,” he said. “This is a gift, quite frankly, and we need to act upon it.”
Brewer disagreed, saying the town should be marketing the area for more advanced, higher-paying fields like biotechnical manufacturing.
“I think this is an opportunity for us to put our development stamp on what we envision that industrial part of town to be,” he said.
House countered that notion.
“It would be fabulous if McCordsville could become the biotech center of Indiana,” he said. “I submit to you, respectfully, it’s not going to happen because there is nothing you can do to compete in that arena.”
He went on to point to Elanco Animal Health’s upcoming relocation from Greenfield to Indianapolis, a move for which the state and the capital city offered lucrative incentives to keep the world’s second-largest animal health company in Indiana.
“And God help us, I wish we could do it, but sometimes you have to make do with the best that you can do, and this is a good project for this community,” House said.
Wood doesn’t feel Aurora Way is as dependent on help from Al. Neyer as proponents make it out to be, and said much of his opposition stems from the proposed size of the building.
“I don’t want to be the warehouse capital of the world,” he said.
He noted Al. Neyer’s proposal is the first for the property in a desirable area.
“So if this project doesn’t go through, I’m guessing another one does, and maybe it’s not a million square feet,” he said. “Maybe it’s something different. It opens up all kinds of different things besides just a warehouse.”
Wood admitted he is concerned about letting the county decide the fate of the parcel.
“I would love to annex that property in … without that project, but I’m not sure the property owners would necessarily go for that,” he said.
Town council’s approval sends the matter to the McCordsville Plan Commission on June 15 for a recommendation on what zoning classification to give the property, should annexation be finalized. The annexation ordinance will return for consideration of a second and final vote at the council’s July 13 meeting.
“If this project goes forward, I can tell you, I’m really going to push for a lot of different things, including increased buffering, restricted hours on when the trucks can roll in there, those kinds of things,” Wood said.
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Proposed speculative development
- 1 million+ square feet
- South of West County Road 600N, east of Mt. Comfort Road
- $60.2 million
- Annexation into McCordsville proposed
- Developer: Cincinnati-based Al. Neyer
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WHAT: McCordsville Plan Commission meeting
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 15
WHERE: McCordsville Town Hall, 6280 W. 800N, McCordsville
WHY: The commission will recommend a zoning classification for about 62 acres proposed to be annexed into town south of West County Road 600N east of Mt. Comfort Road
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WHAT: McCordsville Town Council meeting
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 13
WHERE: McCordsville Town Hall, 6280 W. 800N, McCordsville
WHY: The council is slated to consider the final reading of an ordinance annexing about 62 acres into the south side of town
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