Sun King brewery lands tax breaks for expansion

Sun King Brewing Co. is preparing for another round of growth and has landed city and state incentives to help offset the investment.

According to to a tax-incentives deal approved Wednesday afternoon by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission, the downtown Indianapolis brewery on North College Avenue said it is prepared to spend $2.1 million on additional brewing, logistics and information-technology equipment, which will allow it to add 20 employees by 2016.

The new jobs would pay an average of $17.10 an hour, slightly more than the $16.91 average wage paid to the 35 existing employees who would be retained through the abatement, according to city documents.

Sun King’s investment initially should increase the assessed value of its property by $840,000, the city said. The brewery is expected to save $97,020 in personal property taxes during the abatement period and pay $10,080. The brewery would pay an estimated $19,769 in personal property taxes annually after the abatement expires.

In a separate deal reached with the state and announced Wednesday, Sun King said it planned to spend $3.9 million to add 1,850 square feet to its existing 2,700- square-foot facility. The brewery will house 240 barrel fermentation tanks to allow for an increase in beer production.

Sun King told the state that the expansion would help it increase employment by 32 workers by 2016.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Sun King up to $240,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $60,000 in training grants based on the job-creation plans.

Sun King was launched in mid-2009 and produced 5,000 barrels of beer in its first year of operation. It doubled that amount in 2011 and brewed 18,000 barrels last year.

Sun King is the second-largest brewer in Indiana, behind only Three Floyds Brewing Co. in Munster, which produces about 23,000 barrels annually and also is growing quickly.