Angie's List plans Indianapolis headquarters expansion, adding 1,000 workers in coming years

The consumer review service Angie's List plans a $40 million expansion of its Indianapolis headquarters, adding 1,000 new jobs to its workforce over the next few years, officials announced Tuesday.

Angie's List plans to expand its headquarters staff from about 500 employees in 2011 to about 2,800 by the end of 2019, the company said in a news release. That includes the 1,000 new jobs and 800 relocated from other sites. There are about 1,000 workers now at the headquarters.

The company said it will begin hiring in 2015 for positions in areas including information technology, sales and member services.

Angie's List will buy and renovate a 176,000-square-foot former Ford factory next to its current headquarters that's now owned by the Indianapolis Public Schools, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said. The project will also include construction of a 1,000-space parking garage.

The expansion announcement comes two months after Angie's List laid off 97 members of its sales force after reporting a second quarter loss of $18.4 million. The Indianapolis Business Journal reported the company in 19 years has never turned an annual profit.

"Today's announcement reflects our expectation for continued growth and expansion and highlights our commitment to the city of Indianapolis," said Bill Oesterle, CEO of Angie's List.

Angie's List is due to receive a combined $25 million in city and state incentives for the project. Indianapolis will consider $9.6 million in aid from a downtown tax increment finance district for construction of the parking garage and $6.75 million to the Indianapolis Public Schools to offset the cost of relocating from the former Ford plant, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said.

The state agency offered Angie's List up to $6.5 million in conditional tax credits and up to $500,000 in training grants. The agency said it also will provide the Indianapolis with up to $2 million from the state's Industrial Development Grant Fund.

As part of the incentive plan, Angie's List has agreed to achieve certain business and financial targets including annual investment, number of employees and average wage levels.