Housing developer buys prime 96th Street parcel where ambitious project faltered

In June, CRG Residential bought the 83 acres of land west of the northwest corner of 96th Street and Allisonville Road. (IBJ photo/Eric Learned)

A high-profile vacant property in Fishers previously earmarked for a $500 million mixed-use development is under new ownership, but the decades-long question of what will be built there is still undecided.

Indianapolis-based CRG Residential purchased 83 acres west of the northwest corner of 96^th Street and Allisonville Road in Fishers roughly six weeks ago, according to President Chris Reid.

Although Reid declined to provide a purchase price or share specific plans, he said he is confident CRG will be able to make progress where a former owner—also an Indianapolis-based developer—couldn’t.

“I wouldn’t have acquired it if I didn’t have the ability to execute,” Reid said. “We’re just trying to figure out what we think we can do to enhance its value. We’re still in the early stages of figuring out our plan.”

Indianapolis-based Centre Properties first targeted the site in the late 1990s and announced plans for high-rise offices and condominiums, town homes, retail and restaurants.

The project, dubbed RiverPlace, was beset by roadblocks. Centre spent years trying to mitigate concerns about the development’s impact on the adjacent White River and major roadways.

In 2007, Centre altered its plans and was approved to build 600,000 square feet of retail space, 1,000 luxury condominiums, two hotels and 300,000 square feet of high-rise office space. But the project stalled during the recession.

Las Vegas-based Beal Bank, which had loaned millions for the project, took ownership in 2017 after winning a $15 million judgment against Centre CEO Craig Johnson.

Fritz Kauffman, managing director of commercial real estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield, helped facilitate CRG’s purchase of the land in mid-June. He said the company is planning to develop what it can before inviting outside developers to fill what remains.

“There’s going to be somewhere around 20 acres we’ll be marketing for other development,” Kauffman said.

CRG Residential has built a number of major housing projects in the Indianapolis market, and the company is currently developing the Nickel Plate Station in downtown Fishers. That project will feature 237 apartment units, 10,500 square feet of retail space and a 337-space parking garage when it’s completed.

Though CRG Residential likely will bring housing to the 96th Street site, Kauffman said Centre Properties left the door open to a lot of possibilities by securing zoning that allows multifamily, retail, office and other uses.

“The existing (planned unit development) that’s in place probably will remain. There might be some tweaks to it, but it was pretty broad,” Kauffman said.

In the meantime, curious neighbors are left pondering just what CRG’s plans will include.

“All we’ve done is acquire it and mow part of it. That’s it,” Reid said. “It’s going to take use a while to make a game plan. We’ve been the owners of it for roughly six weeks, but this may take us a year or longer.”