Efforts to remake Brownsburg’s downtown in progress

Brownsburg’s efforts to remake a key part of the town are starting to take shape, with three of four planned projects in various stages of construction.

The developments, totaling roughly $85 million, include a mix of office and retail space, in addition to roughly 400 apartment units, as town officials attempt to breathe new life into the downtown.

Scannell Properties on Thursday will host a ceremonial groundbreaking for its $30 million, four-story Union Green project on the east side of Green Street a few blocks north of downtown.

Green Street is the main north-south artery through town and doubled as State Road 267 before the town in 2013 acquired the portion of the roadway inside its boundaries from the state.

But the town first began exploring development opportunities along the thoroughfare about 10 years ago, said Greg Anderson, Brownsburg’s economic development director, who’s excited to finally see activity.

“It feels great,” he said of the progress, “and it’s fueling even more development and growth.”

Union Green’s underground infrastructure is in place, and foundations are starting to come out of the ground. The project is expected to be finished within two years and will feature 172 units and 14,732 square feet of retail space.

Brownsburg is helping to finance the cost of an accompanying 258-space parking garage. In addition, the town is extending Enderly Avenue west to connect to Green Street to provide street access for the project. Union Green will be bounded by Enderly to the north, Franklin Street to the south, Green to the west and Mill Street to the east.

Scannell bought the five-acre property from Brownsburg resident Rick Bolt, who has a minority ownership stake in the project.

On the west side of Green Street, Envoy Inc.’s two-story, 28,500-square-foot Elevate Office Suites is the farthest along. Construction on the $5 million project is well under way and set to be finished in late spring or early summer, Anderson said.

Envoy is partnering with Hageman Group and Yeager Properties to build the co-working space for 114 office suites ranging in size from 100 square feet to 150 square feet, going up on part of the Arbuckle Acres park property.

“There is a lot of interest, and there is demand, because we don’t have a lot of office space available,” Anderson said.

Town officials had been trying to encourage development on the Arbuckle Acres site and contributed 2.2 acres of park land for the office project. The town also is building a main entrance on the west side of Green Street, to be known as Arbuckle Commons, which will feature surface parking and a grassy knoll area.

Arbuckle Commons will sit between Envoy’s project to the north and Flaherty & Collins Properties’ development to the south.

The 4.1-acre parcel of land sandwiched between Green Street and Arbuckle Acres for more than a century was home to St. Malachy Catholic Church and its school. The town in 2013 purchased the site, which totaled about 7 acres, for nearly $2.4 million.

Flaherty & Collins in August marked the start of construction on its $40 million mixed-use project dubbed The Arbuckle due to its proximity to the park.

The 391,502-square-foot development will include 208 apartments and 7,500 square feet of first-floor retail, and should be completed by spring 2019. Flaherty & Collins is investing $30 million in the public-private project, with Brownsburg picking up the tab for the 400-space parking garage.

And to the south—nearest Brownsburg’s downtown—Fishers-based Paragon Realty LLC is in the final stages of receiving town approval for a two-story, 38,250-square-foot office and retail building called The Carmony.

The $9 million project will feature larger office space than what Envoy is offering and will be targeted to more established companies rather than startups, Anderson said.