By Ann Marie Shambaugh
Creekside Corporate Park should soon have a new owner.
The Zionsville Redevelopment Commission voted July 24 to sell nearly 41 acres developable land to Rockland Development for approximately $6.1 million.
The unanimous vote came with conditions that included revisiting a buyback provision and that Rockland officials meet with an organization that independently contacted the Town of Zionsville to inquire about building on some of the land.
“It’s still confidential, but there is a user who has come forward looking at a couple different lots,” RDC member Luke Phenicie said to Rockland representatives at the meeting. “It’s a user I think the town would be highly interested in seeing locate in Zionsville. I also know you guys would be highly interested in that user as well in part because it would start to chip away at some of the requirements of your agreement.”
The purchase agreement calls for Zionsville-based Rockland to develop at least one lot per year. It also states that the RDC can buy back the development at cost if Rockland is unable to complete the project.
“(It) effectively gives the RDC the ability to repurchase the property at the cost that we sold it for plus any incremental construction costs the developers would put on the property, which is an important point for us, making sure if there is underperformance relative to this contract it gives us the ability to take it back,” Phenicie said.
RDC member Brad Johnson said he’d like to see the buyback provision further detailed so the town isn’t forced to spend large sums of money on a poorly developed project.
“My concern is we have to pay for the demolition or reconfiguration of that,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that we should be on the hook for those types of expenditures.”
The Rockland purchase does not include the LIDS headquarters and the site under construction for the new home of DK Pierce.
Zionsville Director of Planning and Economic Development Wayne DeLong said that the town has always intended on selling Creekside since it bought the land in 2013. It will retain ownership of the natural woodlands, which make up nearly 40 percent of the park; roads; a pocket park; and nearly one mile of public pathways.
The Town of Zionsville borrowed $3 million to purchase the land and has spent more than $4.2 million on infrastructure improvements. With other associated and anticipated costs, DeLong estimated the town will have invested nearly $7.7 million in developing Creekside.
