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A plan is moving forward for a district featuring town houses and entertainment options around West Fork Whiskey Co.’s distillery north of Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield.
Members of the Westfield City Council on Monday night voted 6-0 to approve the proposal to build a 73,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor entertainment facility and 104 town houses on 26 acres at West Fork District, near the intersection of East 191st Street and Horton Road.
GPS.fun, a locally owned entertainment company operated by Peter Murphy, who previously owned Laser Flash in Carmel, is planning the entertainment facility, which will feature 33,000 square feet of indoor entertainment options, including duckpin bowling, laser tag, a full-service bar, a modern arcade, and “Krazy Darts,” a laser-projected dart game. There will also be a 40,000-square-foot outdoor area with a ropes course and a 36-hole mini-golf course.
The Indianapolis office of Houston-based David Weekley Homes will also build 104 town houses on the northern portion of the West Fork District site. The town houses will range from 1,700 to 1,900 square feet and be priced from the mid-$300,000s to $400,000.
The project will also feature an outdoor concert venue and a pond.
Construction is expected to begin later this year, and the entertainment venue could open in late 2026.
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The plan approved Monday was West Fork’s second attempt to receive approval for an entertainment and housing district around its distillery.
In August, members of the Westfield City Council voted 4-3 to reject a plan by West Fork for a housing and commercial district. West Fork and Columbus, Ohio-based homebuilder M/I Homes Inc. had proposed building more than 100 town houses, a whiskey-aging warehouse, a pond, an outdoor concert venue, a dog park and a commercial development.
Council members who voted against the plan last year said they were pleased to see more commercial development in the newest proposal.
“My stance is we shouldn’t have residential on 191st Street. However, this is different than the last ordinance before us,” Councilor Joe Duepner said. “I think they’ve put together a pretty good project. Adding a bunch of commercial in the front that, as a whole, I think it works.”
Brothers Blake and Julian Jones partnered with David McIntyre to start West Fork Whiskey in a warehouse at West 86th Street and Zionsville Road in Indianapolis in 2014. They moved operations three years later to a renovated former grocery store at Bellefontaine and East 16th streets in the Kennedy King neighborhood, which continues to operate as a tasting room.
West Fork spent $11 million to open a 35,000-square-foot facility featuring The Mash House restaurant, a cocktail lounge, a 5,000-square-foot event center, an education facility and production equipment that debuted in August 2022.
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The Kennedy King tasting room closed last Fall and has been replaced by a new business.
That’s what I thought.