HANCOCK COUNTY — Randy Sorrell, executive director of the HancocK Economic Development Council, estimates he gets calls about once a week from businesses looking for a building the county doesn’t have.
But that could be changing. Developers have plans for three speculative buildings near Mt. Comfort that will be move-in ready for companies that want to come to the area. The projects follow the success of a nearby spec building that was leased before it was even completed last year. All of the developments received tax abatements, and the uptick is prompting officials to take a closer look at how they consider those incentives.
Sorrell said companies act quickly when starting, moving to or adding a location. Developing a new property would likely take a year to 18 months. Spec buildings, on the other hand, are waiting for them.
“When they’re ready to go, they’re ready to go,” Sorrell said.
Bill Bolander, a Hancock County councilman who supports the spec buildings coming to Mt. Comfort, agreed and said the county hasn’t had a lot to offer in terms of large, move-in ready space.
“It’s good to have a little bit of an inventory because sometimes these things will pass you by because they want something in a fairly quick matter,” he said.
Companies snatched up what little inventory the county had last year. Indianapolis-based Shear Property Group finished a 400,000 square foot spec building at 6278 W. County Road 300N. Integrated Supply Network, an automotive part manufacturer, and Quest Nutrition, a food distributor, agreed to lease the building before it was done. Both conduct distribution operations at the property.
Greg Woodard, director of distribution for Integrated Supply Network, said the company formerly operated a facility in Fort Wayne before deciding Indianapolis was a better location for a distribution hub. Integrated Supply Network also acquired a company with a facility in Indianapolis, causing the move to make even more sense, he added.
Sorrell thinks the Shear property was the first spec building in Hancock County. It won’t be the last. Indianapolis-based GDI Construction plans to build two 226,000-square-foot spec buildings off the west side of Mt. Comfort Road north of County Road 400 North. Lauth Group, out of Carmel, intends to build a 280,000-square-foot property at the northwest corner of County Roads 700W and 350N.
Mike Sheek, director of business development for GDI, said Mt. Comfort is an ideal spot for a spec building because of the labor base on Indianapolis’ east side and within Hancock County, whose population is on the rise.
The short amount of time it took for Shear to lease its spec building is “a good sign,” he added.
“That tells me it’s a good market and our risk of building without a tenant will be a good, calculated risk,” Sheek said.
Mike Jones, president and CEO of Lauth Group, said the area’s proximity to interstates attracts companies with warehousing and distribution operations, which in turn drive demand for spec buildings.
The Hancock County Council approved 10-year tax abatements for all of the recent spec building developments. Those abatements call for a full tax break in the first year before growing smaller over the years that follow.
“What we’re seeing is more and more projects coming and consequently more and more requests for abatement,” Sorrell said.
That’s motivating officials in Hancock County to form a committee that will delve into their abatement consideration process. Sorrell said it could result in developing a criteria-based scheme officials would use to evaluate abatement requests.
Mary Noe, a Hancock County councilwoman, said she’d like to have more details from companies when considering how to vote on their abatement applications. Companies currently have to provide information like how many jobs a project would create and what the salaries would total, but she said it would be helpful to have further information like a breakdown of those salaries and whether the company offers benefits to employees.
Bolander said confirming companies’ compliance with the terms of abatements might need to be stronger in the future. While businesses have to submit a report every year, the county lacks an effective way to follow up and confirm the information in those reports, he added.
