Goodwill not giving up on plans for south-side distribution facility

Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana Inc is pushing forward with its pursuit to build a 125,000-square-foot distribution center in Greenwood, despite a major setback from city council members.

The local not-for-profit operates three warehouses in Indianapolis, on West Washington Street, Georgetown Road and Shadeland Avenue, which serve as transportation hubs for its 57 stores in central Indiana.

The facilities also house an outlet store where consumers can purchase merchandise cheaper that failed to sell in other locations—by the pound rather than by the item—as a last-ditch effort to avoid dumping leftovers in the landfill.

Goodwill wants to build the distribution center in Greenwood to service south-side stores and filed to rezone, from commercial to industrial, 27 acres on the east side of Emerson Avenue south of County Line Road and west of Interstate 65.

But on Dec. 16, the city council by a 5-2 vote denied the request.

“The council didn’t want a distribution facility this far north where it’s [zoned] predominately [for] commercial, health services and life sciences,” said Bill Peoples, Greenwood’s planning director.

Under the city’s comprehensive plan, updated in 2006, warehouses are better suited to the south, around Main Street and Graham Road east of I-65, where the land is properly zoned for industrial uses, Peoples said.

That’s where beauty-products maker Ulta Inc. is building a 670,000-square-foot facility that should begin shipping in 2015.

The land on which Goodwill wants to build has a complicated history that has muddied the developer’s attempts to construct the build-to-suit project.

The land historically had been zoned for industrial uses, until the comprehensive plan update, which recommended changing the status to commercial. But the land owner notified the city that the site actually is dual-zoned—the front half commercial and the back half industrial.

So Goodwill has the option to build the distribution facility to the rear of the site, though that may even be difficult, Peoples said. That’s because part of the land is designated as wetlands, while other portions suffer from environmental issues.

Goodwill, meanwhile, is doubling down on the site that it deems attractive due to its proximity to the interstate and to its Emerson Pointe store at the southwest corner of Emerson Avenue and County Line Road.

It hopes further discussions with city officials will result in a favorable outcome.

“Of course it’s a setback,” Goodwill spokeswoman Cindy Graham said of the council’s decision. “But we think there could be a resolution. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll look for another site on the south side.”