EdgeRock planning 157-acre project north of Grand Park

Westfield-based EdgeRock Development wants to turn a farm near Grand Park Sports Campus into a multi-district development featuring single-family houses, town houses, a church, a park, commercial space, sports facilities and more.

Birch Dalton, managing director of EdgeRock, presented to the Westfield Plan Commission on Tuesday his request to rezone 157 acres on the north side of 191st Street between Tomlinson Road and Grand Park Boulevard. The property immediately west of the Monon Trail is zoned primarily for agricultural uses, but Dalton said dirt could start moving on the mixed-use project as soon as next summer—if the rezoning is granted and all necessary approvals are given.

“It is a big project, but fortunately, we’ve got big-time users for it already and I think we have a top-caliber development team,” Dalton said.

Dalton didn’t identify the users or provide an estimate of the overall investment the project would require. EdgeRock has yet to identify the exact number of housing units or the square footage of commercial space in the project, but Dalton did break down the general acreage per district.

The southernmost district, along 191st Street, would be roughly 80 acres dedicated to general business uses. Included within that district would be a “village of specialty shops and restaurants” and a new 68,000-square-foot Cornerstone Bible Church.

Dalton also described plans for creating a complementary suite of sports-related facilities that would appeal to Grand Park Sports Campus visitors. One is a planned indoor/outdoor tennis and pickleball facility. Dalton said the estimated $20 million project would feature fitness and training areas, multi-use gyms, 25 pickleball courts, 12 indoor tennis courts and room for another 10 to 12 tennis courts outside.

Another potential tie-in to the Grand Park Sports Campus could take the form of a sporting goods incubator and tech center.

“That is definitely Grand Park leadership and the city’s leadership trying to expand on the success of Grand Park to create more businesses and jobs. I’d love to have a sporting good outlet mall, a sporting good retail operation where somebody who needs a racket fixed, a lacrosse stick fixed, a glove, what have you,” Dalton said. “I think we’ll build on that sporting goods center and create a sporting goods retail mecca. There’s a lot of opportunity.”

Dalton said the entire district and its interior roundabout are set back 60 feet from 191st Street to allow for the road’s future expansion. West Fork Whiskey’s new headquarters is in the works nearby, and Dalton said he expects development along 191st Street to rival 146th Street in Noblesville within the next 3 to 5 years.

On the west side of the parcel, EdgeRock has set aside 20 acres for a neighborhood of single-family houses to be built by David Weekley Homes. Dalton said those houses, similar to those in the Suffolk neighborhood in Westfield, will be priced in the mid-$300,000 range.

In the center of the project, Dalton said he and a company out of Chicago that he declined to name have envisioned building what they call suburban rentals on roughly 25 acres. He described those for-lease, single-story detached and duplex homes as “high-end living units with resort-style amenities.”

Those amenities could include backyards, attached and detached garages, a pool, clubhouse, fitness center, dog park and outdoor lawn area. A few plan commission members questioned the format, wondering whether anyone would want to buy a high-end home next to a rental community.

“It’s kind of a COVID-accelerated type of housing. It’s a single property owner, full maintenance, on-site leasing,” Dalton said. “I’m the one taking the risk putting the millions of dollars into this, and I think it works.”

EdgeRock’s plans for the northernmost 36 acres include single-family housing for empty-nesters, something similar to the West Clay neighborhood in Carmel with prices between $500,000 and $700,000.

The remainder of the project includes roughly five acres for a park that could be conveyed to the city upon completion and around seven acres dedicated to a town house project by Miami-based Lennar Corp.

After Tuesday’s public hearing, the Westfield Plan Commission is expected to give its recommendation on the rezoning request to the city council by October 5. Then, the city council will have its first chance at adoption on October 12.