A new restaurant and up to eight shops and businesses are coming to a new shopping center along State Road 135 in Bargersville.
Work has started on the property where the new strip mall is planned on nearly 11 acres near the northwest corner of State Road 135 and Whiteland Road. The project includes two 10,000-square-foot buildings, one of which will have a 5,000-square-foot restaurant set to open at the beginning of next year and room for as many as eight other businesses, possibly including a fitness center and office space. The development is mostly surrounded by homes and farmland, with another strip mall across State Road 135, south of Whiteland Road.
Besides the shopping center, up to six more lots are available on the property. Possibilities for those sites include banks or restaurants, said local developer Mike Duke, who is building the center.
The property is already zoned to allow commercial use, so the developer only needed approval for infrastructure work and construction, Bargersville planning director Julie Young said.
Duke also developed a nearby CVS and the other strip mall at the southeast corner of the intersection. He also owns another 10 acres along Whiteland Road, land which could be developed in the future.
A restaurant, Campbell’s Highland Grille, is already planning to move into the space, and is set to be open as soon as the beginning of next year.
Owner and Center Grove area resident Steve Campbell said the restaurant will have a combined indoor and outdoor seating of nearly 350 and will feature standard American fare, including hamburgers, pizza and sandwiches, along with Scottish entrees, such as haggis or shepherd’s pie.
Campbell, who’s family immigrated from Scotland more than a century ago, said his family heritage has been a heavy influence on the restaurant.
The eatery is being designed with an open floorplan and will have 30 TVs that will display a wide variety of sports games, ranging from the Colts to the Indians, but the focus will be on soccer. The restaurant will open as early as 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, which is when European soccer leagues typically begin their weekend matches, Campbell said.
The continued growth in the Center Grove area with all of the new housing developments is why this is a good area to open a restaurant, he said.
“We wanted to be in the Center Grove community,” Campbell said.
One of the most common questions Young said she gets from residents is whether any new restaurants are set to open in the town.
“I think it is great for the community to have those additional opportunities,” Young said. “I hear from residents frequently asking when additional restaurants and shops are coming.”
Campbell is a partner at another local restaurant, The Knuckle Sandwich at the northwest corner of State Road 137 and County Road 144, which is right in the path of a proposed interchange for the future Interstate 69 route, he said. If the state purchases that property, Campbell plans to use that money to help pay off the cost of his new restaurant, he said.
The town planning department already approved infrastructure work at the site. That work included bringing in a water line and creating the road entrances, Young said. The next step will be for the developer to submit construction plans for review, she said.
