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Crown seeking tax abatement to expand into old IAC building
A move that would see Crown Equipment Corp. add 200 jobs and expand into the old International Automotive Components (IAC) building at 750 S. Fillmore Rd. on Greencastle’s East Side received its initial endorsement from the City Council at its May meeting.
Crown is seeking tax abatement on the 420,000-square-foot facility north of the State Road 240-Fillmore Road intersection. Passage of Resolution 2023-6, declaring the old IAC property an economic revitalization area was the first step in that direction.
The Council will next need to hold a public hearing on the tax abatement request and adopt an ordinance approving the measure.
According to documentation provided for the tax abatement procedure, Crown currently employs 860 individuals with salaries totaling more than $38 million. The 200 new positions at the old IAC plant would add $9,934,000 to that salary total.
Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center Executive Director Kristin Clary called the Crown move “an exciting project.”
The presence of Crown within the industrial community offers a unique situation for Clary and her office, she said.
“It seems like every time we get a building ready to go on the market,” Clary smiled from the City Hall podium, “Crown speaks up and says, ‘We’ll take it.’”
That didn’t happen initially with the IAC facility and its 40-acre site, the first new industrial development in the aftermath of the IBM departure in 1987. In July 2022 it was sold to the New York City property management firm EPM Partners, aka Eliken Property Management, for $13.5 million.
Crown intends for a June 1 start on the project and lists a completion date of May 21, 2028 in the paperwork filed with its statement of benefits
“They need more places to manufacture their stuff,” Clary said, calling it “an ongoing, rolling project.”
Crown is seeking abatement on manufacturing equipment and/or research and development and/or logistical distribution equipment and/or information technology equipment, according to the written request.
“It’s a very standard tax abatement,” Clary said, adding that Crown will need to retrofit the 35-year-old building sufficiently thanks to quite a bit of deferred maintenance by the previous occupants. “It’s a huge benefit for the community,” she added. “It should greatly add to our income tax base in the community.”
Scott Spear, Crown director of manufacturing, said the New Bremen, Ohio-based manufacturer of lift trucks and other related devices also has manufacturing facilities in Ohio and New Carolina.
“We’re considering this location as our next spot for expansion,” Spear said of the Greencastle site, indicating Crown is in the process of acquiring the building since it likes to own its own facilities.
That is not the case, however, with the old TechnoTrim plant at the northwest corner of State Road 240 and Fillmore Road. It was built by Harold Force of Columbus for TechnoTrim and continues to be owned by Force, despite a previous tenure by Dixie Chopper and now Crown.
City officials suggested that it won’t be easy finding 200 new employees to fill the positions at Crown with a local unemployment rate of only about 3.5 percent.
Spear didn’t seem too worried about it, however.
“It’s certainly a challenge all over the country finding workers,” he said.
Council President Mark Hammer, calling the creation of 200 additional jobs “really exciting,” made the motion to approve Resolution 2023-6, which was adopted unanimously.
In other business, the City Council:
-- Approved street closures for the annual Putnam County Fair Parade as presented by Nancy Michael of the Fair Parade Committee. “The biggest news is we’re going to have a fair parade,” Michael said of the Sunday, July 16 event following last year’s cancellation due to inclement weather. The street closure request is exactly the same as it has been in the past, Michael said of streets along the route as well as the staging areas at the high school and Robe-Ann Park. The street department will be able to move INDOT construction barrels and barricades out of the parade route and put them back once the parade is over, she noted.
-- Approved South End street closures and a noise ordinance waiver for a June 24 celebration at Wally’s in the former Old Topper Tavern. Owner James Stewart said he will have four or five bands throughout the program with plans to shut things down about 11 p.m.
-- Heard Park Director Greg Ruark report that the Robe-Ann Park restrooms have been locked due to ongoing vandalism issues and the need for renovation. Port-o-lets will be provided in the meantime. Once renovated, Ruark said, the restrooms will be locked nightly at 11 p.m. when the park closes because “things go on after 11 o’clock that we’re not proud of.” Mayor Bill Dory said it is “unfortunate that a few have to ruin it for the many.”
-- Heard Mayor Dory announce that work has begun on the Albin Pond Road waterline project and that the city has also started replacing fire hydrant valves around town as part of that project.
-- Heard Dory announce that a 1-4 p.m. Sunday, June 25 event at the Putnam County Museum will celebrate the city’s 200th birthday along with the 202nd anniversary of Putnam County and the 20th year of the museum. Cake and ice cream and an old favorite, Mahoney’s coneys, will be provided.
-- Heard the mayor report that the city has received a $250,000 add-on OCRA grant. The Council authorized Mayor Dory to sign the grant agreement.
Council President Hammer was joined for the one-hour City Hall meeting by Council members Stacie Langdon, Darrel Thomas, Russell Harvey, Veronica Pejril and Dave Murray. Councilman Cody Eckert was absent.
The City Council will next meet in regular session at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 8.