After four failed attempts in the past decade to bring development to a key Greenwood intersection, city officials are considering changing their strategy.
Since 2007, Greenwood officials have made offers to pay for road and infrastructure work in an attempt to attract developers to the southeast corner of Interstate 65 and County Line Road, one of the prime undeveloped sites in the city.
After a series of four failed projects, city officials are now considering a new tactic: doing the needed work and paying the costs themselves.
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The infrastructure work, including sewer, water lines, roadwork and new traffic signals, is going to be a necessary part of any development at the site, said Brent Tilson, president of the Greenwood Redevelopment Commission.
And each of the previous four developers would have received city assistance in paying those costs.
Doing the work upfront and then marketing the property’s status as being ready to develop could help in finding a developer, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said.
The city would want to set certain requirements for the type of development at the property to make sure whatever is built there fits with the city’s plans, Myers said.
High-end restaurants, boutique stores, entertainment venues and hotels are among the options of what could go there, Myers said.
“We will continue to work with the property owner on the types of business we’d be willing to incentivize,” Myers said. “It is a prime location and we expect prime, higher end businesses that would showcase Greenwood.”
The group of investors who own the land, County Line 101 Partners LLC, are in favor of working with the city to get the infrastructure improvements made to speed up the process of finding a developer to buy the land, said Scott Langdon, the broker for the property.
The property was put back on the market at the beginning of the month. Some developers have expressed initial interest in it, but no firm projects have been proposed yet, Langdon said.
The infrastructure work could cost around $2 million and be paid for by the redevelopment commission, but the city could offer additional financial incentives such as tax breaks depending on the type of project a developer is proposing, Myers said.
One key improvement is creating an entrance, with traffic signals, from County Line Road, Myers said.
“If that were to already be done, it would be more enticing to businesses,” Myers said.
A decision on whether the city will move forward with the infrastructure work yet hasn’t been determined. The property has already attracted some initial attention from developers, Myers said.
Since 2007, the city has offered a variety of financial incentives for a series of developers all interested in the property, though none of those projects came to fruition.
Cabela’s announced plans in 2007 for a Greenwood store and indoor water park as part of a 100-acre retail and entertainment project. Greenwood had agreed to give Cabela’s an $18 million loan for the project and paid $130,000 to draw up plans for the loan.
In 2014, Greenwood had agreed to pay up to $2 million for infrastructure improvements at the property as an incentive for GoodSports Enterprises Global’s $22 million project to build a hotel and sports complex.
In 2015, Greenwood agreed to provide $2 million for infrastructure improvements as an incentive for Gershman Partners for the Greenwood Town Center, a $90 million, 700,000-square-foot shopping center.
The most recent joint project — a $40 million sports complex and shopping center by Gershman Partners and Indy Fuel owners Jim and Sean Hallett — was slated to receive $8.5 million from the city to help pay for infrastructure costs and as an incentive.
