The preliminary site plan for the Center Grove Park Planned Unit Development along Greenwood’s southwest side.
Provided by the city of Greenwood
A mixed-use development on State Road 135 in Greenwood is moving forward following a split city council vote.
The Greenwood City Council voted 5-3 with one member absent Monday night to approve rezoning approximately 77 acres of land located at 3111 S. State Road 135 from commercial large and agricultural zoning for a mixed-use Planned Unit Development. City council members Ron Bates, Erin Betron and Brad Pendleton voted against the rezoning. Council member Michael Williams was absent.
Florida-based Advenir Oakley Capital LLC, in partnership with Ellis Park, LLC by Lushin Investments, requested the rezoning. The project, dubbed Center Grove Park, would be located south of an apartment complex under construction near State Road 135 and Stones Crossing Road. PUDs give developers more flexibility with projects that may not fit all of the requirements for other types of zoning.
Monday night was the second time the proposal had been before the city council for a vote. In February, the council rejected it in a 3-6 vote, however, the developer received permission to bring it before the council again this year. Normally, the city council would not hear the same proposal within the same year.
Both times the proposal received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the city’s plan commission. No members of the public spoke about the project during the most recent plan commission hearing in July, nor before the city council on Monday.
The Center Grove Park PUD proposal that came before the council was the exact same one they heard before. It will consist of three distinct areas: commercial mixed-use, apartments and single-family-rental homes to be developed in three phases, according to city documents.
The commercial area would have up to 150,000 square feet of space for commercial, office and retail uses. There would be up to 250 units of one to three-bedroom apartments and up to 325 single-family rental homes with one to three bedrooms. Both the apartments and the rental homes would have their own amenity areas, city documents say.
Construction for the development is expected to take place in phases, with the single-family homes starting off first in 2024. All of the construction is expected to be completed by 2030.
The developer did a tax study for the project, which could bring an extra $3.4 million in taxes into the city and various taxing units, said Scott Weathers, Advenir Oakley Capital development and construction manager.
During the proposal’s first appearance before the city council, some members expressed public safety concerns about the proposal. Since then, the developer has met with Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison, who did not believe it would be a public safety concern, Weathers said.
Additionally, the developer committed to working with the Greenwood Police Department to add FLOCK License Plate cameras to the property. The developer also plans to have a courtesy officer — an off-duty officer whose living expenses are offset in exchange for providing security to the development, Weathers said. The city council later unanimously voted to add the commitments to the ordinance.
Before the rezoning vote, council members expressed both support for and concerns about the project.
Council member Linda Gibson shared a letter she received from Aspire Johnson County President and CEO Christian Maslowski. In the letter, Maslowski expressed his support of the project, which he believes would add value to the community, Gibson said.
Other council members were not as supportive, and the three council members who voted against it shared their concerns during the meeting.
Citing comments he’s received from the public, council member Ron Bates said residents are tired of apartments and this project would bring up to 250 apartments. The city has many apartments already in development, and eventually, the supply is going to be greater than demand, he said.
Council member Brad Pendleton later agreed with this sentiment.
“I think we have quite a few apartments and rental properties coming up, being built, approved; houses being built, approved,” Pendleton said. “I just don’t think this was the time or place for this right now.”
Pendleton told the council about a conversation he had with Center Grove Schools Superintendent Richard Arkanoff, whose district covers the area of the PUD. Arkanoff said the district would prefer not to see multi-family dwellings in a tax increment financing district, which would negatively affect schools. The property is in Greenwood’s Southeast TIF district.
Greenwood firefighters have also reached out the Pendleton about the project, he said. The PUD is not within their fire territory but would be after the rezoning was approved. Additionally, he received a letter from a local business that was opposed to the rental homes, Pendleton said.
Pendleton also said he appreciated the developer’s efforts to address safety and security.
Council member Erin Betron commented on the cost of rent for the rental homes, which could be between $1,700 to $2,000 a month. There’s been talk about having more affordable housing, but the rental homes would have monthly payments near the cost of what Betron pays now for a mortgage on her home, she said.
“I don’t know that that’s any more affordable. … And the same thing, a lot of apartments going up and not all of them are filled yet. I worry that some will remain stagnant,” Betron said.
Bates was also concerned about the rental homes. He said renters don’t have the same stake in the community as a single-family homeowner does, he said.
“What concerns me is that I believe that someone of that nature, they really don’t have what I would say (is) a stake in our community,” Bates said. “The other side of the coin is, I think it’s the single-family homeowners (have a) stake in our community. They are the ones that should be driving our community, they should be the ones that are making decisions for our community, including the people who sit on this council.”
Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers later addressed Bates’s comments, saying that during a recent meeting between him and MIBOR Chief Advocacy Officer Chris Pryor, Pryor said he hoped that projects like this would go through because there’s a housing shortage in both Central Indiana and across the state.
Projects already under construction in Greenwood — such as The Hangar on Emerson and The Madison — are now leasing and units are starting to fill up, Myers said.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with filling these places with people,” Myers said. “There are people who are moving to the southside or potentially moving to the southside, and we’ve seen through our growth that we are growing that way.”
As far as fire and police protection, the project would bring in more finances for the community that could be applied toward capital projects and purchases to help in these areas, he said.
