MERRILLVILLE — Construction for several major developments is closer to starting after the Town Council made several recent economic development moves.
The council finalized tax abatement for six different projects in Merrillville that represent a total investment in excess of $130 million.
Several of the tax abatement requests involve development in the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads area. The Missner Group will erect five speculative facilities in that area and lease the space to companies. That project includes an 806,000-square-foot structure that’s expected to involve a $57.5 million investment.
There were public hearings associated with the abatements, and resident Bryon Mesarch on several occasions asked how much each abatement is worth.
Attorney Richard Anderson is representing Keough Mechanical Group for a tax abatement involving a $900,000-square-foot speculative facility Keough will build in an industrial park near 89th Avenue.
He said the amount of the abatement will depend on what the building is assessed.
“Until these buildings are built, ... it’s going to be difficult to give you an exact dollar amount,” Anderson said.
Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6th, said tax abatement and other incentives are used by Merrillville and other municipalities to attract companies and the many benefits the projects will bring, including jobs.
“This is the economic development game, and if it doesn’t come to our town, they’re going to hightail it over to Hobart or to Crown Point or somewhere else in Northwest Indiana,” he said.
Pettit also explained that the land for the proposed developments is vacant and generates little in property taxes, but Merrillville will bring in more than what’s currently received even when the abatements are in place.
Mesarch also questioned why the council would consider tax abatement for companies that will lease space in facilities because they wouldn’t directly create new permanent positions in Merrillville.
Eddie Adler, of Missner, said the projects will create many temporary construction jobs in town, and the companies that occupy the facilities will bring permanent employment opportunities to Merrillville.
Whether it’s temporary or permanent positions, the people filling them will visit restaurants, bars and stores in Merrillville and possibly decide to move to the community, Adler said.
“So money flows to the town,” he said.
Besides the tax abatements, the council also approved an economic development bond that will provide a $1.7 million reimbursement for utility work associated with the Silos at Sanders Farm development.
The Silos at Sanders Farm industrial park is planned for 196 acres of land on Mississippi Street between 93rd and 101st avenues. The development will include multiple speculative facilities, and the buildings will offer a total of more than 2 million square feet of space when the project is finished.
Crow Holdings, the developer of the Silos at Sanders Farm, is investing $15 million in the utility infrastructure for the project.
“These lines that they are running are going to service not only their property but undeveloped property to the north of them, ... which will open it up for development for other vacant parcels,” Pettit said.
Through an economic development agreement, the town committed to a $1.7 million reimbursement that would be provided through the bond issue, Pettit said. Property taxes generated from the Silos at Sanders Farm development will be used to pay off the bond issue, town officials said.
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