The City of Fishers has posted the proposed economic development agreement that would bring JD Finish Line’s North American headquarters to The Link building at 11100 USA Parkway, giving the public its first detailed look at the incentive package before the City Council takes it up Monday night.
The headline number: a 100 percent abatement of both real and personal property taxes at the site for ten years, beginning with the January 1, 2028 assessment date. To make that possible, the council would designate the property an economic revitalization area under state law.
In return, The Finish Line, Inc. — the Indianapolis-based retailer owned by UK-based JD Sports Fashion PLC — commits to relocating its corporate headquarters to the USA Parkway site by December 31, 2028, investing at least $1 million in improvements to the building, and employing at least 400 full-time workers there at an average wage of approximately $47 per hour, or roughly $98,000 a year, throughout the ten-year abatement period. The agreement pegs the fair market value of the land and building at $13 million as of the purchase date.
As Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner indicated when the move was announced June 10, the agreement contains clawback provisions. If the company falls short of its commitments in any year, the city can recover a proportional share of that year’s tax benefit. The agreement spells out the math with an example: if the company employed 380 workers instead of the required 400 and had received $50,000 in abatement benefits that year, the city could recoup $2,500 — five percent, matching the five percent shortfall in hiring. Unpaid reimbursements would accrue interest at the prime rate plus five percent, and the company must file annual compliance forms with the city and the Hamilton County Auditor each May.
The city can also terminate the abatements outright if the company cannot meet its commitments, though the agreement requires “substantial, compelling evidence” before the city may do so. The abatements would survive a sale-leaseback of the building, an arrangement companies sometimes use to free up capital, so long as the employment commitments are met.
The relocation deadline can be extended for construction delays, tenant relocation delays or other reasons the parties mutually agree upon. The Link’s current tenants would need to be accommodated as the company renovates the building, with work expected to begin in 2027.
The agreement is one piece of the $169 million sixth phase of the Fishers District announced last week, which also includes the city’s $65 million Fishers Fieldhouse, the Indy Ignite training facility, and Buckingham Companies’ Contrast | Fishers residential development.
The move would bring more than 400 existing corporate employees from the company’s longtime far-east-side Indianapolis headquarters, with plans to add 200 more jobs in the coming years. The JD Finish Line distribution center will remain in Indianapolis.
The City Council meets Monday, June 15, at 7 p.m. at the Fishers Municipal Center.