If there was any doubt Fishers and the developer of a planned culinary center were serious about getting the project started, it was put to rest last week at a low-key but high-stakes auction in Downtown Indianapolis.

Thompson Thrift paid $359,000 for five liquor licenses to be used at the Yard, a restaurant and entertainment complex to be built at the 116th Street exit off I-69. The auction was held Wednesday by the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission in a windowless conference room at the Indiana Government Center South.

Managing partner Ashlee Boyd won bids for the “three-way” liquor permits, which allow the sale of beer, wine and hard liquor. He paid $50,000, $55,000, $65,000, $83,000 and $106,000. Boyd was outbid for a sixth license, for which a competitor paid $130,000.

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“This is one of the steps in the process is making sure we had liquor licenses for the tenants that we’re negotiating with,” Boyd said. “It is a culinary-themed project that will have multiple restaurants."

The special auction was distinct from the regular once-a-year auctions for state liquor permits. It was called partly because Fishers, Carmel, Westfield and other cities have been allocated more licenses based on population increases, said Alcohol & Tobacco Commission counsel Jessica Allen.

Liquor permits are distributed according to a city’s size, and the Hamilton County cities held special censuses that showed population growth. Fishers is now entitled to 58 three-way permits. Population also determines how many one-way permits (beer) and two-way permits (beer and wine) cites get. But they are in less demand and fetch much lower prices.

In all, 45 permits of all types were sold in several counties for $1.48 million. A three-way permit for a package liquor store in Zionsville fetched the most: $210,000. But some of the three-way permits in less populated counties had just one bidder and were sold at their base value of $1,000.

In wealthy and fast growing Hamilton County, however, competition for the licenses is fierce.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has contended that a scarcity of three-way liquor permits is discouraging restaurants from opening there. Last year the city backed legislation in the Indiana General Assembly that would have increased the number of liquor permits in Hamilton County by 10.

The bill failed but a compromise measure enabled Fishers to get four additional three-way permits for its downtown, called the Nickel Plate district, to be sold for $20,000 apiece with certain conditions.

Rep. Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said he introduced the bill in the General Assembly to help out independent operators who want to open eateries; the more licenses there are, the lower the bidding prices are likely to be.

“A lot of start-ups and independent entrepreneurs can’t afford to spend $130,000 on a license,” he said. “So a lot of the time, it’s only chain restaurants that can afford them.”

Fadness is betting that the Yard helps make Fishers a dining destination.

Thompson Thrift is investing $40 million and the city $7 million into the project, which is outside the Nickel Plate District. The complex will be on 17 aces next to soon-to-open Ikea. It will have 10 to 12 spots for restaurants and 3,000 square feet of space for a culinary accelerator, where budding chefs can try out new food and business concepts. It could also have a theater and other entertainment sites.

The company’s investment includes buying many of the 28 homes in Spring Dale Estates subdivision, which will be razed to clear land for the center.

Boyd said he already had one three-way permit in addition to the five he bought last week. He said some of the spots at the Yard would sell only beer or wine. One concept being discussed for the incubator is a permanent brewery in which start-up chefs can offer their menus, a restaurant owner told IndyStar.

But before anything is settled, the developer needs to navigate the state's liquor licensing process, a tricky proposition because the permits are in high demand and are bought and sold on the open market.

Liquor permits can be obtained three ways: buying it directly from the commission if one is available; bidding for it at an auction as they become available due to revocations, non-renewals or population changes; or buying a permit from a current license-holder who is willing to sell, often through a broker.

At the special auction, about 60 business representatives ranging from men and women in business suits to those in shorts and flip-flops sat at folding tables, waiting for the permits from their counties to come up for bid.

Among those bidding for the Fishers permits were the Brackett Restaurant Group, which owns CharBlue steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis and numerous Stacked Pickle franchises. Burger Study, owned by St. Elmos, also made a bid for a Fishers permit. The upscale Ivy League-themed burger spot is opening soon in the Circle Centre mall in Indianapolis.

The bidding went quickly, with the auction lasting about 90 minutes.

Boyd's dominance in the bidding wars led one competitor to suggest he leave the room and take a bathroom break. But Boyd persisted, and the auction concluded with his project sporting another five new alcohol permits to dangle in front of restaurant companies.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418.