Fishers council OKs $10M in incentives for biopharm firm, Maple Del development

The Fishers City Council on Monday approved more than $10 million in financial incentives for a new life sciences manufacturing facility and a mixed-use neighborhood near the downtown.

The council unanimously approved two economic development deals that are expected to lead to a combined $96 million in investment.

Newly formed INCog Biopharma Services Inc. is poised to receive $3.7 million in tax abatements and fee waivers to help build a planned $60 million biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the city.

Meanwhile, Hageman Group and J.C. Hart, the developers behind a proposed $36 million neighborhood near the downtown, also secured early approvals for a tax abatement worth up to $6.1 million.

Megan Baumgartner, economic development director for the city of Fishers, said a majority of INCog’s planned investment will be spent on outfitting its 60,000-square-foot facility with clean rooms and advanced manufacturing equipment.

The new company has yet to identify a specific location, but co-founder Cory Lewis said INCog is ready to make a long-term commitment to Fishers. The company has already announced its intention to create 150 jobs through 2024 and a total of 260 jobs by the end of 2026.

INCog also has an incentives deal with the state that will provide it up to $2.5 million in conditional tax credits based on its job-creation plans. The state also will provide up to $200,000 from the Industrial Development Grant Fund to support infrastructure improvements.

“We believe Fishers has the right environment to attract and retain that employee base we need to grow,” Baumgartner said.

The council on Monday also approved incentives for Carmel-based developers Hageman Group and J.C. Hart’s joint venture near Maple Drive and East 115^th Street.

Plans for the 190-unit neighborhood, called Maple Del, were contested Monday by several residents from the nearby Charleston Crossing neighborhood. They took issue with the neighborhood’s proposed apartments and its impact on local traffic.

Tom Dickey, managing director of real estate for Hageman Group, said the project’s increased density fits with the city’s 2013 Nickel Plate District Plan. He said just under 1,000 new residential units have been built since that plan established a desire for 2,000 more units in the downtown area.

Dickey said Maple Del’s diverse offering of three-story apartments, three-story town houses and two-story duplexes should fit with the city’s goal of attracting additional talent to the region—such as the new workers at INCog Biopharma Services.

Despite approval of its economic development agreement, the city has yet to approve a final site plan for the roughly 10-acre project. That means there will be additional opportunities for public comment as the project is heard by the city’s architectural review committee.

Council member Todd Zimmerman said he’d opposed apartment projects in the past for various reasons, but he was in favor of Maple Del because it supports the vision of the downtown.