Sarah S. Riordan
As a part of the City’s goal to redevelop the area of the old GM Stamping Plant, the City and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation have signed a development agreement with Elanco, a leading pharmaceutical company in the animal health industry, to construct a new headquarters on a portion of the area and to support public infrastructure that facilitates movement from the near west side location to downtown. The Elanco headquarters is expected to bring over 1,000 high-paying jobs to Indianapolis and will attract other ag-bioscience companies to Indianapolis. Elanco will invest over $100 million in the new headquarters, which will lead to an increase in construction jobs and spur economic growth on the near west side.
On July 12, 2021, by a vote of 23-1, the City-County Council approved Special Ordinance No. 6, 2021 (Prop. 177, 2021) to issue the 2022B bonds for the Elanco HQ project and surrounding infrastructure needs. The Metropolitan Development Commission then authorized for Resolution 2021-E-012 on July 21, 2021 to pledge TIF revenues from the Consolidated Downtown TIF to finance the Elanco HQ bonds, which was then affirmed by the Bond Bank Board of Directors. In February of 2022, the Bond Bank issued $127,785,000 in Economic Development Tax Increment Revenue Bonds for the Elanco HQ project. $64 million will be made available to Elanco for site improvements. $51 million will be used for public infrastructure improvements for better access to the site from downtown. The Elanco HQ bonds will have a security pledge of the Consolidated Downtown TIF and include the City’s M.O. pledge. The term of the bonds is not to exceed 25 years.
The financing structure of the 2022B bonds also included 2011F Refunding Bonds that will achieve a 25% present value savings, or $5 million for the City of Indianapolis. The bond resolution included a not-to-exceed par amount of $19,065,000 and is secured by a pledge of the Consolidated Downtown TIF with a M.O. pledge from the City. The project is expected to be completed in early 2024.