Town waives fees to accelerate $17.6M senior-living project

Bloomington-based CarDon & Associates is planning a $17.6 million expansion of its Fishers senior-living community—a project expected to add 25 jobs when complete.

Fishers Town Council on Monday agreed to waive up to $300,000 in development fees to encourage the company to accelerate construction of The Reserve at Hamilton Trace, to be located north of 116th Street and east of Cumberland Road.

CarDon’s existing Hamilton Trace community at 11851 Cumberland Road offers a range of services, from assisted living and long-term care to rehabilitation and memory support.

Plans call for adding a second phase of assisted-living apartments and about 18 cottages where older adults could live on their own, according to a project summary prepared for the council.

The fee-waiver agreement requires CarDon to begin moving dirt no later than Aug. 1 and have construction “substantially” finished by mid-September 2015.

The Fishers project is “one of many being considered by CarDon and likely would not start for several years” without the concessions, wrote Tim Gropp, the town’s assistant director of economic development.

Indianapolis CPA firm H.J. Umbaugh and Associates estimated the project will generate nearly $228,000 a year in property taxes beginning in 2016, he said.

The council unanimously approved the deal, eliminating road-, bridge-, sewer- and park-impact fees tied to the development. The town also is planning improvements to 116th Street east of Cumberland Road to ease traffic in the area, which councilors said will benefit CarDon and the community as a whole.