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An industrial area along Michigan Road on the west side of Carmel could experience a big change if a developer receives approval for a 360-unit apartment development.
Carmel-based Edward Rose & Sons wants to build seven apartment buildings and an 8,000-square-foot retail building on 22 acres at the former site of Resort Condominiums International’s offices at 9998 N. Michigan Road.
Jon Dobosiewicz, a land-use professional with the Carmel-based law firm Nelson & Frankenberger, told members of the Carmel Plan Commission on Tuesday night that the development would have three four-story apartment buildings and four three-story apartment buildings. The apartments would have one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
The development would also have a clubhouse with a pool, sundeck, cabanas and a rooftop terrace; private co-working office spaces with conference rooms and workstations; a performance gym and yoga facilities; an event suite; fire pits and fire tables with seating; grilling areas with counters; indoor and outdoor game areas; a pet-grooming spa and leash-free pet parks; EV charging stations; other gathering spaces; a water feature; five acres of open space; and a tree preservation area.
In Carmel, Edward Rose & Sons previously developed the Avant Apartments, 12890 Old Meridian St., and Alexandria of Carmel Apartments, 1411 Fairfax Manor Drive. The company is currently developing Icon on Main, a $75.4 million, five-story mixed-use development at 1017 W. Main St.
Edward Rose & Sons is asking the city to rezone the property from industrial to the U.S. 421-WCD Planned Unit Development in order to allow a high-end development with multifamily housing and a commercial/retail component.
There is currently no other housing in the immediate area. The Mayflower Park industrial area is immediately to the west of the proposed development site, while an Olive Garden Italian Restaurant is to the north and the Ed Martin GMC dealership is to the south.
“Considering there are no other existing residential uses in close proximity, Edward Rose believes that providing more full-time residents in the area will provide an additional customer base along this segment of Michigan Road, providing a boost to businesses in the vicinity and enhanced aesthetic as compared to industrial buildings and uses on the real estate,” Dobosiewicz said.
In 1973, Christel DeHaan and her then-husband Jon DeHaan founded Resort Condominiums International LLC, which grew into one of the largest timeshare exchange companies in the world with offices in 38 countries. Christel DeHaan sold RCI in 1996 and focused the rest of her life on philanthropic efforts, including the educational nonprofit Christel House International. She died in 2020.
In the late 1990s, RCI moved its central Indiana operations to a 220,000-square-foot building at 9998 N. Michigan Road. Last year, the company completed the relocation of its RCI North America office to 8910 Purdue Road in Indianapolis, leaving the Michigan Road building vacant. RCI’s corporate headquarters have been in Parsippany, New Jersey, since 1999.
During a public hearing session, Mike Steffes, CEO of ACES, which is headquartered near the site, said he supports the Edward Rose & Sons project and views it as a “serious upgrade for our piece of Carmel.”
“We do believe this is a good project for west Carmel,” Steffes said. “The western part of Carmel, there on Michigan Road, is obviously in need of redevelopment. We think this is a great step. We think it doesn’t just help west Carmel. We think it helps all of Carmel.”
Plan Commission members largely expressed support for the Edward Rose & Sons development.
“I think that’s a very good project for that area,” Plan Commission member Mark Adair said. “I used to work in that area and near that area, and with RCI being basically defunct or not there, I think it’s a perfect fit.”
Some members wondered if future residents might remonstrate against new businesses moving to the area and if tenants might have a difficult time living near a car dealership.
The rezoning request for the development proposal is scheduled to next receive more discussion from a Plan Commission committee on April 1. The request would then return to the full Plan Commission for a vote at a future meeting.
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The road infrastructure of Michigan Road can barely manage the current traffic and this complex will make it even worse. Michigan Road will quickly become Rockville Road 2.0.
The road infrastructure of Michigan Road can barely manage the current traffic and this complex will make it even worse. Michigan Road will quickly become Rockville Road 2.0. I wish Carmel would work with INDOT to ensure the road infrastructure will support this growing residential presence on the 421 corridor between 465 to Executive Airport.
No matter what or where the development is, you can always count on someone to complain about traffic. In this case it is ridiculous.
Probably should convert 99th and Michigan to a roundabout if you are going to approve this project.
Probably should not put any more roundabouts on major high-traffic through-roads (I’m thinking of Michigan and Allisonville) where the incoming traffic several blocks away is platooned by traffic signals.
I do think that every currently signalized intersection on Michigan in Carmel should be converted to a roundabout with the exception of 96th St, which may not be a good candidate for it given the traffic volumes and proximity to the interstate.
Traffic volumes on Michigan Road fall off very quickly north of 96th St. These intersections are very different from the 96th and Allisonville case.
But given that this is a state highway, nothing is likely to happen unless the city of Carmel funds it, and that probably won’t happen – at least not for quite some time.
The traffic is fine.
Agree traffic is probably fine and good site repurpose.
However, in a bigger picture issue, how about the City Planning Members perform a survey of residents at existing ERS (or any other active Carmel apartment developer) communities to see how they feel about the window and wall insulation codes near busier streets. More than likely they would hear some pretty damn disturbing comments. Better yet, how about a requirement for any appointed (or elected) city planner members to live for one week in a similar project from that developer on one of the 1-2 walls close to a busy street. For one of the leading mid-size cities in the entire country, that is the type 360 degree mindset we needed to serve to all of the local taxpayers. Frankly while many of the planning commission members do have a citizen/community mindset as #1, there are two or three on the council arguably conflicted. Residents #1, Developers/ Vendors/ Consultants / Brokers DOWN THE LIST !