Carmel developer plans rooms with a view

Construction is expected to begin this summer on a $6 million development at Carmel’s City Center that includes luxury apartments overlooking the Monon Trail.

Developer Anderson Birkla’s The Mezz project, named for swank mezzanine-level seating at the neighboring Palladium, is a pair of five-story mixed-use buildings on either side of the James Building, which houses the Tarkington Theater among other tenants. (The grassy Center Green in between the Palladium and the James is the site of the Carmel Farmers Market.)

To the east is the 25,000-square-foot Mezz on the Monon, nestled between an existing parking garage and the trail (and, a bit farther, the City Center restaurant-and-retail hub). High-end apartments are planned for the top four levels, with amenities—think fitness center, bike storage and resident lounge—on the first floor.

Luxury apartments overlooking the Monon Trail are planned for the top four floors of The Mezz on the Monon. (Rendering courtesy of CSO Architects/city of Carmel)

On the other side of the James along Third Avenue: the 40,000-square foot Mezz on 3rd, which will house Anderson Birkla’s corporate headquarters and four floors of so-called luxury apartments. A total of 44 units are planned between the two buildings.

Founded in 2007, Carmel-based Anderson Birkla Investment Partners LLC has about 40 employees and is growing as it diversifies from development into construction and property management, partner Tony Birkla said Wednesday at a trail-side ground-breaking ceremony.

Work will begin as soon as permits are approved, he said, and the company hopes to move in by the end of the year. It now leases space in the North Meridian Street office corridor.

The city says the company already has spent $300,000 on development fees for the project, and it’s paying another $700,000 for the land over six years. The property was owned by the Carmel City Center Community Development Corp. (known informally as 4CDC), under city control since late last year.

Carmel number crunchers estimate The Mezz will generate $112,000 in property-tax revenue each year, and that the buildings’ tenants will contribute another $25,000 in income taxes.

Mayor Jim Brainard said City Center has attracted more than $300 million in private and public investment since the city announced the ambitious redevelopment project over 15 years ago—at a similar ceremony in an abandoned strip mall a stone’s throw from Wednesday’s shovel fest.