Plan for $100M project in downtown Westfield calls for apartments, retail and office space

Westfield is making plans for a mixed-use development along Jersey Street in the city's downtown. (Rendering courtesy city of Westfield)

A Chicago-based building contractor has submitted plans for a $100 million development in downtown Westfield that would include retail and office space, apartments and a parking garage.

Brian Simons, senior vice president of Skender Construction LLC, which has an office in Westfield, told members of the Westfield City Council on Tuesday night that the Jersey 32 Planned Unit Development would feature 43,000 square feet of retail space, 15,500 square feet of office space, up to 235 apartment units, a 574-space parking garage and an art plaza.

Simons said a high-end restaurant is in talks to open in a two-story standalone building at Jersey 32, which the city previously called the Jersey Street project.

Jersey 32 is planned on 3 acres at the southeast corner of the intersection State Road 32 and Poplar Street/Westfield Boulevard, north of Jersey Street and west of Mill Street.

“Our focus is on a lot of the, I’ll go ahead and call them, your Mass Ave, your Broad Ripple, your Carmel Main Street-type clients and bringing them to Westfield and having that kind of energy,” Simons told City Council members.

Westfield first announced plans for a major project on Jersey Street last summer. Simons said the design submitted to the council is the 14th iteration since then. Carmel-based Studio M Architecture & Planning is the architect for the project. A timeline for Jersey 32 is not yet available.

Mayor Scott Willis said Jersey 32 will be the first structure people see as they enter Westfield off of U.S. 31.

“This … provides a really unique living style for residents who will end up coming into this development. It will attract young people. It will attract some of our retirees as well,” Willis said. “But it’s an amazing view. When you look out from the pool into Grand Junction, it’s a million dollar view.”

Skender, which relocated its central Indiana office last year from Indianapolis to Westfield, plans to move its office to Jersey 32. Skender’s focus is on construction projects in the health care, higher education, municipal and office sectors. Since 2020, the company has worked on more than 5 million square feet of active and completed construction projects in Indiana.

The Westfield Advisory Plan Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing about the Jersey 32 project on June 2, followed by a workshop on July 2 and a vote on whether to recommend the project on Aug. 4. The project could return to the council for a final vote on Aug. 11.

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The Jersey 32 project is the latest downtown development to be proposed in Westfield.

In 2021, the city opened the $39 million Grand Junction Plaza, a public park downtown where the city hosts events, such as the Westfield Farmers Market, the Shamrock Drop (a St. Patrick’s Day festival) and Movies in the Plaza.

Union Square at Grand Junction, developed by Carmel-based Old Town Cos., is expected to open this year on the city block south of S.R. 32 between Union and Mill streets. It will have 196 apartments, a 300-car parking garage, 17,000 square feet of retail space, and a 40,000-square-foot office and retail building. Sun King Brewing Co. will open an 8,700-square-foot taproom and food hall at Union Square.

In January, members of the Westfield City Council unanimously approved a $27 million development on the east side of downtown called Ambrose on Main.

Ambrose on Main will feature 87 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 6,000 square feet of plaza and courtyard areas, a 2,000-square-foot rooftop patio, 12,000 square feet of commercial space and a restaurant with outdoor seating. The project by Fishers-based Rebar Development will be built at the northeast segment of State Road 32 (Main Street) and East Street.

Earlier this month, members of the Westfield City Council unanimously approved the $123 million Park and Poplar project, which will also be developed by Old Town. Park and Poplar will be built on 9 acres along the Midland Trace Trail, south of Park Street and between Mill Street and Westfield Boulevard.

Plans for Park and Poplar feature 240 apartments, 56 for-rent brownstones, a 40,000-square-foot office building with three stories, a three-story building with 29,200 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a 523-space public parking garage.

Indianapolis-based developer CRG Residential LLC is also proposing a plan to complete the long-discussed Grand Millennium Center project east of U.S. 31 and south of Park Street that would feature as many as 366 apartment units, 60,000 square feet of medical office space, 12,500 square feet of retail space and 447 parking spaces. Grand Millennium is moving through the city’s approval process.

Westfield is reviewing development projects as the Indiana Department of Transportation reconstructs State Road 32 through the city’s downtown.