Not-for-profit legal services collective considers $7M HQ project in Zionsville

A collective focused on not-for-profit legal services and consulting is considering property in Zionsville’s Creekside Corporate Park for a possible $7 million headquarters.

Indianapolis-based Charitable Allies Inc., a not-for-profit legal aid law firm that serves not-for profits, and its sister consultancy, Allies4Good, presented a letter of intent to the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission on Monday indicating their interest in building a joint headquarters at 10903 Creek Way.

Together, as Allies Collective, the organizations have narrowed their headquarters search to the northern Indianapolis-Zionsville region and Cheyenne, Wyoming. If Allies Collective chooses Zionsville, and the commission enters into a project agreement, the headquarters could create as many as 150 jobs paying an average of $41 per hour over the next six years.

“It’s exciting for me to be able to think about the opportunity to bring a business to Zionsville after having lived here for so long,” Mike Nelson, board chair of Charitable Allies, said. “If this all works out, I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for a lot of help to go both ways.”

Founded in 2013, Charitable Allies provides legal aid to tax-exempt clients generally earning $10 million in annual revenue or less. Currently, the not-for-profit assists roughly 880 organizations in 48 states from a roughly 3,300-square-foot leased space at 9100 Purdue Road in Indianapolis.

Zachary Kester, CEO and founder of Charitable Allies, said that lease expires in a couple of years and he expects both organizations to undergo rapid growth. From 2019 to 2020, Kester said Charitable Allies saw its revenue grow 296%. Year-over-year growth from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of this year saw revenue grow another 113%.

He said those figures, and the organizations’ tech-centric approach, support the idea that Allies Collective could soon grow from 15 employees to 150.

If Allies Collective does execute an agreement with the city of Zionsville according to its letter of intent, the organization would pay $20,000 for the roughly 2.5 acre Lot One in Creekside Corporate Park.

The collective’s estimated $7 million headquarters would be built in phases, Kester said, with an initial 18,000-square-foot building gradually expanding to 30,000 square feet. Conceptual designs for the space would be modular to allow for hybrid and remote work environments.

“Frankly, employees are more open to this post-COVID than they ever have been,” Kester said. “We’re going to make sure we’re ahead of the curve.”

Brittany Mann, vice president of incentives and location advisors for The Bradley Co., said site selection is still in-progress. Allies Collective also has considered Brownsburg, Whitestown, Westfield and Carmel. She said Zionsville, though, stands out as the organization’s most desired location in the state.

Mann said the state has already weighed in on the project and indicated that it might provide support through a tax credit.

However, Kester said Wyoming’s laws and tax considerations are favorable to both organizations’ not-for-profit clients. The lot in question also has a number of developmental obstacles, including environmental runoff concerns for the nearby Eagle Creek and drastic elevation changes.

There are no required next steps after Monday’s presentation of a letter of intent, but any agreement between the town and Allies Collective will have to be publicly reviewed before it can be approved by the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission.