BROWNSBURG — Up to 800 new jobs could be coming here after Lauth reached an agreement with the town’s planning commission to potentially build two 500,000 square-foot buildings on property along Northfield Drive.
The decision will go to the Brownsburg Town Council now, with a first reading likely to be conducted in December.
“They’re projecting that they could include up to 800 jobs,” said Todd Barker, planning director for the town of Brownsburg. “All of that at this point is speculative.”
Barker said site plans and building permits still need to be approved by the council after the recommendation from the planning commission, but there are many potential positives should the motion pass.
“There are a lot of ways to look at it,” he said. “No. 1, to find a tax base there is huge. Brownsburg for decades has been known as kind of a residential-only community, and as a result the majority of our tax base is footed by the residential property. Diversifying the tax base is critical for the economic health of the community.
“The second is providing jobs for the citizens of the town,” Barker said. “The town is looking to develop jobs for our residents. That oftentimes increases the quality of life with people working and living in the same community. That’s paramount as well.”
Town Council President Dwayne Sawyer lauded the potential decision, saying that the combination of jobs and a new tax base could further invigorate the community.
“They worked hard, worked together, Lauth and the town and the residents. There was good feedback from the residents,” he said. “Lauth contacted individual home owners to work with them individually and collectively.
“That really is exciting to hear and work with a business that says we can look forward to bringing up to 800 jobs, and we hope those numbers can hit that range. That’s a huge boost to the economy, especially when it is what it has been. It shows (Brownsburg) can stand proud and tall and weather the storm and we can build a climate and location that shows what we have to offer from a business and quality of life perspective.”
Barker said that potential jobs won’t just aid the local community, it would likely have a far-reaching impact as well.
“The distribution facilities we have now along with future ones, they might not be pulling all of their employees straight from town, but from surrounding communities,” he said. “Providing jobs is just as key as diversifying the tax base.”
Barker said Lauth could do whatever they want with the property in terms of who would occupy the facilities, but that they would likely be distribution centers as there are companies interested in that type of space. He said that Lauth had mentioned that there have been requests for larger facilities in the 500,000 square-foot range.
“They could do anything with the property that the industrial zoning permits. I’d still anticipate that if it does go to a distribution center, it’d be similar to a Home Goods or Guitar Center,” Barker said, giving examples of two distribution centers currently in town.
Sawyer is pleased with the motion of potential movements such as this, a hallmark of the council’s goals this past year.
“We’ve had some plans and goals, and I do believe we’ve met those expectations. We got a lot of work done this year, a lot of projects worked on and completed. I’m happy to say from a target perspective and planning perspective, we’ve gotten a lot done this year.”
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