A Center Grove area family is looking to sell about 50 acres located near an intersection primed for commercial development.
Just to the southeast of State Road 135 and Stones Crossing Road, what used to be a farm field will someday be an area thriving with box retailers, restaurants and business office space, according to Greenwood’s master plan for the area.
Jack and Patty Schwartz had the 50 acres rezoned for commercial use about a year ago. Now, the family is looking to sell the land to developers, said Pete Cleveland, a real estate lawyer representing them.
“The Schwartz family farmed this land for decades, but the time has come to look at selling the land, which will begin to develop the area and create commercial progress,” Cleveland said.
The 50 acres is located inside the city of Greenwood’s tax-increment, or TIF, district that runs along State Road 135. The commercial corridor between Smith Valley and County Line roads has filled up, pushing new development further south.
That’s where the city of Greenwood wants to see more medical offices, restaurants, grocery stores and box retailers, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said.
Development is trending in that direction along State Road 135 near the intersections of Stones Crossing, Demaree and Smokey Row roads as properties transition to commercial use from agricultural farmland.
No better example exists than the new Community Health and Johnson Memorial Health building on State Road 135, and the soon-to-be-completed Kroger at Smokey Row Road, Cleveland said. Both are signs of the times in the area, Cleveland said.
That growth and development near the family’s 50 acres is a driving force behind selling their property, Cleveland said.
Subdivisions such as Lone Pine Farms are being built and more places to live only adds to the draw of families moving to the southwest side of Greenwood, Cleveland said.
The Schwartz family is currently in discussions with developers, Cleveland said. In the next two months, the family plans to announce a development for the area, Cleveland said.
Before a developer would be able to build anything on the property, stormwater and sanitary sewer systems would need to be improved and installed, including detention ponds, and roads would have to be improved to accommodate traffic, Cleveland said.
Developers will have to do those projects after purchasing property, before they begin construction, Cleveland said.
