Parkwood Crossing—central Indiana’s largest office park—gets new name

The owner of Carmel Gateway, formerly Parkwood Crossing, plans to convert two surface parking lots into green space for workers. (Rendering provided by Rubenstein Partners)

The owners of central Indiana’s largest office park on Thursday announced a rebranding and new additions, including green space that will replace a pair of parking lots at the Carmel campus that has received more than $40 million in improvements over the past decade.

Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners, which acquired the 1.2 million-square-foot office park in 2016, has rebranded Parkwood Crossing as Carmel Gateway. The multibuilding campus is located over several blocks east of North Meridian Street and sandwiched between 96th Street and Interstate 465.

Brian Simel, vice president of asset management for Rubenstein, said the rebranding is the capstone of a nearly decade-long process to revitalize and transform Carmel Gateway into a modern office park with amenities that workers demand.

“We’ve always been proud to be at the gateway of Carmel, and now our name reflects that,” Simel told IBJ.

Rubenstein and Indianapolis-based Strategic Capital Partners acquired Parkwood Crossing in 2016 for $162.9 million, buying the complex from Duke Realty Corp., which developed the campus from 1989 to 2005. Strategic Capital Partners is no longer part of the ownership group, and the property is wholly owned by Rubenstein and its affiliates. The Indianapolis office of Chicago-based JLL manages leasing for Carmel Gateway.

Major tenants include Katz Sapper & Miller LLP, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, CBIZ Inc., Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Liberty Mutual, Travelers Insurance and ONB Insurance.

Rubenstein Partners has invested more than $40 million in capital improvements to Carmel Gateway over the past nine years.

Upon acquiring the campus, Rubenstein worked with Strategic Capital Partners to develop the 14,000-square-foot, two-story Parkwood Amenity and Recreation Center, which features water views, multiple dining options, a full-service fitness center, state-of-the-art meetings spaces and a tenant lounge with an indoor-outdoor fireplace and wrap-around deck.

The investments also included the Village Green, an outdoor space with a putting green, pickleball courts, shuffleboard, cornhole and billiards.

The next move for Rubenstein will be to convert two surface parking lots totaling 2.25 acres on the east and west sides of the campus into a pair of outdoor lawn spaces with flex space and outdoor amenities for workers. The west lawn, which will overlook a pond, will feature an amphitheater that could host corporate speaking events, happy hours and small concerts.

Carmel Gateway Property Manager Patrick Moyers said construction of the east lawn will begin first this spring and work on the west lawn will begin in either late spring or early summer.

“The word I like to use is we’re de-paving,” Moyers said. “We are removing unsightly parking lots.”

The city of Carmel also plans to build two new roundabouts on College Avenue, which bisects the Carmel Gateway campus, at the intersections of 96th Street to the south and the Parkwood Crossing roadway to the north. Carmel also plans to convert the site of a former gas station at the northeast corner of 96th Street and College Avenue to a green space.

Simel said a goal for Rubenstein since the company purchased Carmel Gateway has been to make the campus feel more like Carmel, which for more than two decades has put a focus on building infrastructure that emphasizes walkability and green spaces.

“Carmel has for a long time been a magnet for talent, because it’s given people great spaces, and it’s always been a little different,” Simel said. “I think about all of the great things going on in Carmel, and then to me, it’s worth asking the question, what is the Carmel version of a workspace? And frankly, I don’t think it’s an office building on an island in an ocean of parking.”

Last year, Rubenstein secured a new loan for Carmel Gateway as part of its continued effort to revamp the complex with new amenities and secure new tenants.

With ownership of both Parkwood Crossing and Lakefront at Keystone, which comprises more than 870,000 square feet at East 96th Street and Keystone Avenue, Rubenstein is the single-largest owner of office park space in central Indiana.