Noblesville OKs $3.4M incentive for tech firm's HQ

The Noblesville City Council unanimously approved a $3.4 million incentive package Tuesday for a new corporate headquarters for a growing tech company.

BlueSky Technology Partners, a digital consulting and marketing firm, wants to build a $6 million, 40,000-square-foot facility at Ind. 32 and John Street, about three blocks west of the White River from downtown Noblesville.

Noblesville has been trying to revitalize the area west of the river for years, including beginning construction on the nearby Federal Hill Park this summer. Plans call for pedestrian bridges over the river and the redevelopment of what officials consider underutilized land nearby.

BlueSky would be the first large company to move into the area. It would employ 75 to 85 workers by 2021, according to documents filed with the city. The company now has about 55 workers based at a smaller facility on Stony Creek Way in Noblesville.

Noblesville city attorney Mike Howard estimated that the jobs would average $90,000 a year.

Howard said the city agreed to buy the 1.5-acre lot for the company at a cost of about $1 million. He said the city also will build site improvements on the hilly land, including a 200-space parking lot, for about $2.4 million.

The company will pay $100,000 a year in property taxes for 10 years, a savings of about $100,000. For the next 10 years, the company is to pay $150,000 a year, a savings of about $50,000.

BlueSky also plans to lease 6,000 square feet for a first-floor restaurant, which would pay about $45,000 a year in property taxes.

Eric Warne, BlueSky's president and chief operating officer, said the move would not be possible without the incentives. The location, which includes a large hill, would be too difficult to build upon, he said.

"The city has been very good to us since we've been here, very supportive all along," Warne said.

He said the company will either lease or sell the space it owns on Stony Creek Way once the new building opens next year.

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.