By Carla Howie and Julie Osborne
There are signs of development for the former Dow property, now known as Creekside Corporate Park. The Redevelopment Commission met on Oct. 28 to discuss contracting HWC Engineering to begin preparing plans and clearing debris. An as yet unnamed company has submitted a Letter of Intent for a 19,000 square-foot building on the property.
Since the 82 acres were purchased in May, little movement has taken place except for the 106th Street Sanitary Sewer & Water project. The RDC now wants to move forward with the help of engineering firm HWC and Paul Kite, who is serving as consultant to the development project.
Representing HWC was Land Development Director Jamie Ford-Bowen, who informed the commission that HWC would provide schematic and detailed design for the drainage and mass grading aspect of the 82-acre property. This was identified as part of the first phase of the project.
“Development of this nature is a moving target. It is important to respond quickly to potential end users while maintaining the integrity of the overall development and doing what’s best for the Town of Zionsville,” Ford-Bowen said.
In order to get the project moving forward, $60,000 in funds was proposed to hire HWC so they may begin developing the engineering plans and begin brush removal. The motion passed unanimously. The motion also included forming a subcommittee, which would include a member of the redevelopment commission, to work with HWC and Kite to understand how the initial outlay of funds will be appropriated
Mark Plassman, President of the RDC, stated: “This is a starting point, we need to understand the site and have a general sense of the infrastructure – this needs to be done.”