Mortgage firm eyes long-vacant Westfield office complex

Carrington Mortgage Services plans to move into about a quarter of a long-vacant office campus on U.S. 31 in Westfield to accommodate its growing loan-origination and servicing business.

As IBJ reported Thursday, the California-based company is planning to move its local operations from Fishers to Westfield, retaining 180 jobs and adding 360 more by 2019.

Carrington said it plans to spend $3.2 million to renovate and equip a 77,000-square-foot leased facility in Westfield, but officials would not disclose the specific location.

Next week, Westfield City Council is set to consider a resolution that would designate 55 acres at 19845 U.S. 31 North as an economic revitalization area, making it eligible for a property-tax break.

Built in 1981 as a regional headquarters for telecommunications company GTE—and later home to successor firms Verizon and Frontier Communications—the pair of two-story buildings has been vacant for years. Amenities include an auditorium, on-site cafeteria and more than 1,200 parking spaces.

If council signs off on the revitalization area Monday, a public hearing will be held Sept. 22 before it is finalized. Officials expect to consider Carrington’s request for a personal property tax abatement at the same meeting.

The company is asking the city to forgive the taxes on $1.1 million in new IT equipment for its new offices.

Carrington said it has outgrown its current space in the Freedom Mortgage building at 10500 Kincaid Drive, along Interstate 69 in Fishers.

The U.S. 31 property is located just north of 196th Street, an area expected to benefit from the Indiana Department of Transportation's work to replace existing stoplights with interstate-like interchanges. When the project is complete, the drive from State Road 38 south to Interstate 465 is expected to take about 10 minutes.
 
Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Carrington up to $3.65 million in conditional tax credits based on the firm’s job-creation plans.