Brownsburg attracts $4.8M office project as part of bigger plans for downtown

Brownsburg’s efforts to transform its nondescript downtown are getting a boost from a $4.8 million office project that could help lure more development to the area.

The development team of Envoy Inc., Hageman Group and Yeager Properties has agreed to construct a two-story, 28,500-square-foot office building in Arbuckle Park that should be finished by next September.

The team hopes to break ground this fall on the project that would be built on the west side of Green Street, the main north-south artery through Brownsburg. It could lead off a slate of projects still in the planning stages that are intended to enliven the downtown area, including a $60 million, five-story apartment development and a $25 million recreation center in the park.

“Clearly, we will be the first ones there; we’re excited about that,” Shelby Bowen, Envoy’s vice president of development, told IBJ. “We want to see the other development happen. If you have people living there and working there, and maybe the recreation center comes in, it will be pretty dynamic.”

Town officials have been trying to encourage development on the property and are contributing 2.2 acres of park land for the office project.

Envoy’s office building won’t be designed for large users. Instead, Brownsburg Office Suites, as it will be called, will feature 110 separate suites, three conference rooms and co-working space to attract entrepreneurs, startups and solo ventures, Bowen said.

“This is really a unique product for Brownsburg,” he said. “We think it’s going to be a great piece to the total downtown development.”

As part of Envoy’s project, Brownsburg has agreed to make improvements to surrounding infrastructure, including connectivity for pedestrian and bicycle access. The town also has started design plans for what will be a centrally located public green entrance to Arbuckle Park and Brownsburg Office Suites.

“The Brownsburg Office Suites project is a natural progression in our redevelopment efforts and furthers the momentum for our town,” town councilor Brian Jessen said in a prepared statement. “This development will add valuable commercial tax base in our community and improve job opportunity, which will help increase the overall quality of life for the people who live, work and play here.”

Nearby, plans already are under way for a five-story development calling for 220 apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail and a 350-space parking garage to be built on five acres at the northeast quadrant of Green and Franklin streets.

Indianapolis-based Scannell and CRG Residential LLC in Carmel hope to break ground on the $60 million project yet this fall, though it still remains in the planning stages.

As part of the overall development of the area, Brownsburg also hopes to construct a $25 million, 80,000-square-foot recreation center in Arbuckle Park.

Envoy has partnered with Yeager on another project—The Post at the former Fort Harrison. It includes office suites and 10,000 square feet of retail space, in which roughly half is occupied by a Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza location.

Envoy’s mixed-use projects include The Edge in Fishers, which is located on the northeast corner of 116th Street and Lantern Road. The $17.5 million development features a 61,000-square-foot, three-story commercial building and 330-space parking garage.

The firm is expected to break ground in October on another project, also in Fishers. The $42 million mixed-use development at the northwest corner of North Street and Lantern Road is slated to include a three-story, 30,000-square-foot office building, 500-space parking garage and a four-story mixed-use building with 240 apartments and 5,000 square feet of commercial space.