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A plan for a $1.2 billion development east of Grand Park Sports Campus that would be centered on space and science education will return to the Westfield City Council after receiving a thumbs-up from the city’s land-use advisory board.
Members of the Westfield Advisory Plan Commission on Tuesday night voted 6-0 to forward a favorable recommendation to the council for the 66-acre Grand Universe Planned Unit Development, between 186th and 191st streets, which would feature four districts and science, technology, engineering and math-related installations involving rockets, rocket boosters, engines and outer space.
The Grand Universe project is led by Arden Johnson, CEO of Grand Universe Development Partners LLC, and Greg McCauley, CEO of Grand Universe and a partner with Grand Universe Development Partners. From 2012 to 2018, McCauley operated the Link Observatory Space Science Institute near Martinsville.
Johnson told council members in November that the first two phases of development would include construction of the 170,000-square-foot Grand Universe Center for Science and Space Exploration, which would include a full-dome planetarium, and a hotel. The second phase of construction would include a sports-focused district and a commercial and mixed-use development with multifamily housing.
Johnson said both phases would cost about $600 million each.
There would be four districts within Grand Universe.
On the southern end of the campus near the intersection of East 186th Street and Wheeler Drive, the Grand Universe District would feature the Johnson Hagerman Center for Science and Space Exploration and a STEM pavilion with events and amenities. The center would also have parking and student and group drop-off and pickup areas.
Plans call for the Resort District, north of the Grand Universe District and along the Monon Trail, to feature a hotel to provide lodging for visitors.
The Sports Entertainment District on the northwest side of the site near the intersection of East 191st Street and the Monon Trail would include sports and arts and entertainment facilities with outdoor plazas and dining. It would also feature an area called Creek Park with natural elements and plantings in open spaces with a mix of trails, pathways, sidewalks, respite areas and connections to the Monon.
The Town Center District, east of the Sports Entertainment District, would have commercial and mixed-use buildings with retail, office and high-density multifamily housing.
Indianapolis-based Browning Day is the architect for the project, while Fishers-based The Hagerman Group is the general contractor.
The Plan Commission held meetings to discuss the Grand Universe PUD on Dec. 2, Jan. 9 and Jan. 21.
Among the changes made to the proposal were to modify the maximum building height from 150 feet to 180 feet in the Grand Universe District, from no maximum to 150 feet in the Resort District, from no maximum to 100 feet in the Sports & Entertainment District and from six stories to 80 feet in the Town Center District.
Ten days after the Grand Universe PUD was introduced to the Westfield City Council on Nov. 11, the chief operating officer of Grand Universe filed suit against McCauley, alleging the nonprofit Grand Universe Space Science Institute Inc. has failed to pay him more than $2 million since he began working for the organization in 2015. The case remains active in Marion Superior Court.
The Grand Universe PUD is expected to return to the City Council for possible final approval on Feb. 10.
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