The Carmel Redevelopment Commission last month OK’d the $850,000 purchase of a residential property to complete the aggregation of several parcels along W. Main Street for a future project.
The home is on the southeast corner of Main Street and 4th Ave. SW. The city already owns the land in the same block on the southwest corner of Main Street and 3rd Ave. SW, and an investor owns the parcel in between the two properties. A specific project for the site has not been determined.
At the Dec. 20, 2023, CRC meeting, CRC Director Henry Mestetsky described the parcel the CRC aims to purchase as part of the “front door” to the city’s redeveloped Main Street area. He said the home, which is immediately west of the arches identifying the boundary of the Arts & Design District, is out of place with redevelopment to the east.
“If you’re entering Main Street, you go past the roundabout and see these cornice lines of four- and five-story buildings, but then you run into this thing, and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s just a house. I guess Main Street hasn’t started yet,’” Mestetsky said at the meeting. “Except it has, and it’s our job to make it better.”
The $850,000 price tag is higher than the average of two appraisals the city received on the property but falls between the two amounts, Mestetsky said.
“(The city’s offer) is essentially in line with other offers that they were getting at the same time they were getting our offer,” he said. “We’ve got the power of a nimble department that can see a listing and react within half an hour to get it under contract.”
Mestetsky said the CRC plans to request approval from the Carmel City Council to use 2021 tax increment financing bond proceeds designated for land acquisition for the purchase, but it can use cash reserves if the council doesn’t approve the request. Council approval is required for all land purchases greater than $50,000 using 2021 TIF bonds.
Mestetsky said the CRC did not approach the city council first because it did not have the “luxury of time” with other interested buyers making offers on the property.
The city council is expected to review the CRC’s request this month, Mestetsky said.
