Jan. 10—The city of Kokomo is annexing nearly 200 acres being targeted for the second electric vehicle battery plant and further economic development.
The Kokomo City Council on Monday unanimously voted to move an ordinance annexing 12 parcels of mostly agricultural land totaling 199 acres on the far northeast side between the Stellantis Kokomo Engine Plant and U.S. 31 from first to second reading.
The ordinance’s second and final reading is set for 6 p.m. Jan. 22 when it is expected to be passed by the City Council and then signed by Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore.
The majority of the parcels being annexed into the city are owned by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public state agency tasked to bolster the state’s economic growth, that has recently gone on a buying spree in Howard County.
Four of the parcels are owned by the Howard County Board of Commissioners and are utilized as a retention basin for the county’s Tudor Drain.
The others are either small, right-of-way parcels owned by the state of Indiana or residential properties now owned by the IEDC.
The annexation is voluntary, meaning both the IEDC and the county are requesting the land be annexed.
The annexation request comes after the IEDC last month was given approval by the State Budget Committee to spend $15.8 million to purchase approximately 257 acres from multiple landowners in Howard County. That’s in addition to the 93 acres the agency bought in the same area last summer.
According to county property records, the IEDC has already spent several millions acquiring agriculture land and former residential properties.
Some of the land will be used to “accommodate” the multi-billion-dollar investments made by StarPlus Energy for their two previously announced EV battery manufacturing plants. The plants are expected to employ a combined 2,800 and be open in 2025 and 2027, respectively.
StarPlus Energy is a joint-venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI, a South Korean battery and electronics manufacturer.
In addition, some of the purchased land will be marketed to other potential buyers for further development, the IEDC has previously said. In total, the IEDC the purchases will support 4,000 total jobs.
The purchases of land by the IEDC and annexation by the city continues the development of a largely rural area originally targeted by the city administration for a 150-acre industrial park into a several hundred acre heavy industrial area and development kickstarted by the May 2022 announcement of the first EV battery plant.
Since that announcement, the city has annexed several hundreds of acres of land southeast of the Kokomo Engine Plant soon to be home of the first EV battery plant and a handful of other EV suppliers.
Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.