The company that is building speculative warehouses in Whiteland will get a tax break on at least one of the proposed buildings.
The Whiteland Town Council approved providing property tax abatement over 10 years for the $15 million speculative warehouse Jones Development Co. of Kansas City, Missouri is building off Whiteland Road near the town’s Interstate 65 exit.
During the 10-year abatement, in total the company will have paid just over half of what the original property taxes would have been. The company will pay in increments over 10 years, town manager Norm Gabehart said.
The company is also building a pressure system, tanks, a water tower and making other improvements to the town’s water system at a cost of $2.5 million. The company agreed to make the improvements to the town’s water system to make the speculative buildings more marketable. The water improvements will also help others in the town, Gabehart said.
The company will not pay property taxes on one speculative building for a few years as the company’s reimbursement for the water improvements, he said.
The property tax abatement is only for the largest proposed building so far, and only includes the building and not land and equipment. The developers have not applied for an additional abatement on other proposed buildings, he said.
The company is planning for at least one other building at 168,000 square feet. The land where the buildings are planned is part of 178 acres that was formerly Maschmeyer Nursery.
A long term comprehensive plan of the land shows plans for three additional buildings than what are being built this year. One additional building is 1.3 million square feet. The other two buildings would be 436,000 square feet with the fifth building being 168,000 square feet.
No specific plans for the buildings have been made and no tenants have been secured, but the warehouses would be ideal for manufacturing, logistics or food production companies, he said.
