The economic development agreement between JD North America and the City of Fishers includes a parking arrangement that will give the Fishers Event Center access to roughly 850 spaces at the adjacent office building — now called The Link, but known for years as the Navient building. Under the deal, the event center can use those spaces for dates and times that fall outside the normal office hours of JD’s employees.

In exchange, the city will buy down $6 million of the building’s purchase price. That payment covers two concessions: converting USA Parkway from a private road into a public thoroughfare, and opening the building’s parking lot for use during Fishers Event Center events. Fishers Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner said the arrangement allows the city to sidestep a far more expensive alternative — building a parking garage.

Deputy Mayor Elliott Hultgren told LarryInFishers that LAZ Parking — the same firm that already manages parking for the Fishers Event Center — will also handle the JD lot when it is used for event nights. Any fees charged are being negotiated with the city. Hultgren said he expects the current Event Center employee parking lot to be relocated to the JD office building’s parking spaces.

The Fishers Event Center, which opened in late 2024 and offers more than 2,000 surface parking spots, sits directly off USA Parkway, making the neighboring 850-space lot a natural overflow option for the venue’s busiest events.

The parking discussion came as part of the Fishers City Council’s approval of the broader economic development agreement bringing JD North America to The Link. The 350,000-square-foot building, formerly the headquarters of student-loan servicer Navient, will become JD’s North America headquarters, housing more than 400 current employees with another 200 jobs expected in the years ahead. The package also includes the new Fishers Fieldhouse, the Indy Ignite practice facility, and the Buckingham residential development — all part of a roughly $169 million expansion of the Fishers District announced at a press conference last week.

Council members praised the plan and approved the agreements unanimously.

Mayor Scott Fadness credited Baumgartner’s work over the past six years for the steady turnaround of the city’s office market.

“In a downturn office market, if you look at the old Marsh headquarters, the old Roche office building, the Wiley building and the Wilco – previously Navient — building, they are all now filled with corporate headquarters and significant reinvestment into those office buildings,” Fadness said.