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A new district at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield could feature a 10,000-seat stadium, a sports technology incubator space and a park lined with attractions, housing, office facilities, restaurants and hotels, according to a master plan unveiled by the city on Monday.
Grand Park District would cover an area of about 152 acres north and south of 186th Street and bisected by Grand Park Boulevard. The district, which could take a decade to develop, would have three key destination areas: the existing Grand Park Events Center at the north, the proposed stadium in the middle and either an ice rink facility or a sports-related headquarters building at the south.
In total, Grand Park District would have about 8 million square feet of development and 4,000 residential units. There would be more than 7,000 parking spaces across multiple parking garages, two surface parking lots and on-street parking. A trolley system would connect Grand Park to downtown Westfield and the city’s hotels.
“It’s going to be a gorgeous development, and it’s really going to activate Grand Park in a way that I think it was always meant to be,” Mayor Scott Willis told IBJ.
Grand Park, which opened in 2014, has 31 soccer fields, 26 baseball diamonds, two administration buildings, seven concession stands and the 378,000-square-foot multi-use Grand Park Events Center. The Indianapolis Colts moved their annual summer training camp to the park in 2018.
In December, members of the Westfield City Council unanimously approved a 30-year, $184 million public-private partnership with Grand Park Sports & Entertainment to operate the 400-acre sports campus. GPSE is a joint venture between Indianapolis-based Indy Sports and Entertainment and Westfield-based Bullpen Ventures LLC.
Indy Sports & Entertainment consists of Indianapolis-based commercial development company Keystone Group LLC and the Indy Eleven professional soccer club. Each is led by real estate developer Ersal Ozdemir. Bullpen Ventures operates Bullpen Tournaments, which organizes baseball and softball tournaments at Grand Park.
Westfield retained ownership of Grand Park under the agreement that went into effect Jan. 1. The city and Grand Park Sports & Entertainment will manage and develop the sports campus for 30 years, which includes an initial 10-year term and four five-year extensions.
Grand Park was the most-visited youth sports destination in the U.S. in 2023. The sports campus also was the 16th-busiest sports facility that year, with 5.5 million visits. Grand Park also had 1.3 million unique visitors in 2023.
New development
Westfield’s goal for Grand Park District is to create a year-round attraction for both athletes and visitors at the sports campus and residents of the city.
“Right now, we just play at Grand Park,” Willis said. “We’re going to create mixed-use development. We’re going to create a corporate setting. We’re going to add more play options with tourist attractions, family entertainment, food, restaurants and shopping to this area for the 5.5 million visits that come into Grand Park each year.”
Design firms Speck Dempsey LLC and Perkins&Will created the master plan that was funded by Hamilton County Tourism.
The northern tip of Grand Park District would be the Grand Park Events Center, which opened in 2016. The events center hosts indoor youth sporting events, the Indy Eleven women’s soccer team, events and conventions. It has three full-size synthetic fields, four locker rooms, office and meeting space, a full-service restaurant and a sports pub.
A park and event plaza called Champions Way would connect Grand Park Events Center to a newly created Grand Park Lake on the southern end of the district. Champions Way would have attractions, such as a mini recreational football field, Olympic-style podiums, play structures, splash pads, hammocks and swings.
A 10,000-seat stadium is planned at the northwest corner of 186th Street and Grand Park Boulevard. The stadium would host the Indy Eleven women’s soccer team and youth sports championship events. Willis said he hopes the stadium could also host high school football games and college sports tournaments.
The Indy Eleven women’s team, which is in the pre-professional W League, announced plans in 2023 to join the professional USL Super League. Stadiums in USL Super League must seat at least 5,000 fans. The Indy Eleven soccer club hosts many of its youth soccer programs at Grand Park. Indy Eleven also plans to construct a club headquarters at Grand Park District.
Grand Park Lake and an urban beach are planned south of 186th Street with attractions that could include a Ferris wheel, kayaking and paddle boating. Grand Park’s existing retention ponds would become part of an urban-style canal walk leading to the lake.
The south area would also have between 2,000 and 2,500 multifamily residential units and 2,700 parking spaces, along with either an ice facility or a sports-related headquarters building.
Indianapolis-based Card & Associates Athletic Facilities has a contract to purchase the land in Grand Park District south of 186th Street. The city and Card & Associates will work to rezone that property to facilitate the development of the south area of the Grand Park District master plan.
Westfield Economic Development Director Jenell Fairman said the master plan represents an opportunity to capitalize on Grand Park’s sports community and city’s growing business and residential areas.
“I think that the underlying effort on this master planning is to create a unique, walkable, thriving entertainment and sports district for Westfield,” Fairman said. “And that we’ve brought in national leaders to help advise Westfield and do this the right way so that it can be successful.”
Construction schedule
Construction of Grand Park District is expected to take about 10 years.
The first phase of construction is expected to begin this year with a new parking garage at the southwest corner of Grand Park Events Center. Parking garages throughout Grand Park District will replace about 900 surface parking spaces.
This phase is also expected to include a full-service hotel and a mixed-use development with apartments, retail, restaurants and entertainment, and the expansion of the Indy Eleven’s headquarters, which have been at Grand Park for the past decade.
Grand Park’s current championship field and diamond will be relocated to allow for continued operation as development progresses.
Over the next six months, Keystone Group and the city will work to refine the district’s design, budgets and schedules. Development will require tax-increment financing to fund infrastructure, including parking garages, roads, trails and public amenities.
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Maybe the Indy Eleven’s men’s team should play there … exactly why they need two stadiums seems … strange to me.
10,000 seats for who? It is too small for Indy Eleven (I think) yet how many youth tournaments would need something that large? Really early to fully grasp the plan, along with a few too many “could”… and “might” type insertions. I am happy to see Westfield moving ahead, but a few weeks ago the Space-themed plans got off kilter with lawsuits likely impacting things.
“Development will require tax-increment financing” – Does any development NOT receive TIF funds? It’s never ending.
Bring Indy 11 to Westfield! Bring concerts to the stadium!