A committee of the Indianapolis Marion County City-County Council Wednesday approved Mayor Greg Ballard's plan to issue up to $98 million of bonds to support construction of a new Eli Lilly & Co. campus. The full council will consider the measure Feb. 28.
If approved, the city will consider issuing the bonds March 16 or 17, a city official said. Under the current plan, Indianapolis would float up to $98 million of tax-increment financing bonds to fund construction of a new campus for the pharmaceutical giant, which is the city's largest private employer.
The so-called North of South development would feature a boutique hotel, a new YMCA, apartments, and retail space. The full project would cost $155 million and feature financing from a variety of private and public sources.
JPMorgan would be senior underwriter. Horwath LLP is financial adviser and Barnes & Thornburg LLP is bond counsel. The debt would feature a pledge of revenue from Indianapolis' downtown TIF district. The city does not anticipate having to tap existing revenue. The developer is expected to make most of the debt-service payments from income generated by the project.
