A longtime local business is remaining in Noblesville after receiving a two-year tax phase-in approval from the common council on Jan. 14.
Economic Development Director Judi Johnson said LeMasters Steel Erectors sought the tax phase-in for the increase in assessed valuation resulting from the construction of a 10,625-square-foot new facility on a two-acre parcel with a capital investment of approximately $830,000. Johnson said the project was a competitive one as LeMasters looked at other locations.
“It’s a retention and expansion project,” she said.
The tax phase-in is for real property at 17540 Kraft Ct. in the Pleasant Street Business Park. LeMasters is currently in the Stony Creek Business Park on a one-acre parcel with 1,200 square feet of office space. The company is landlocked and unable to grow at this current location.
“Pleasant Street Park is the only business park in Noblesville that allows outdoor storage and has available land for expansion,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the total capital investment is $1,050,000 – $830,000 for the capital investment and $220,000 for land. LeMasters will pay no property taxes the first year and $12,452 the second year. The estimated tax abatement savings is $37,348 ($24,900 in the first year and $12,448 in the second).
President Jim Bigler said LeMasters’ corporate headquarters have been located in Elkhart for 40 years. The business, which builds multistory structural steel buildings, has been in Noblesville for 30 years. LeMasters employs 48 workers and projects hiring five more by 2017. Bigler said the average salary for the five new employees will be $35,000 to $45,000 with benefits.
“With offices in Elkhart and Noblesville, we pretty well cover the state of Indiana,” Bigler said.
The finished building will house a 3,000-square-foot office with the remainder to be used for shop space to repair construction equipment.
“We are out of office space, we need to move,” Bigler said. “We see the economy picking up and want to grow down here. We want it to be in Noblesville.”
