Car lot to anchor 52-acre Noblesville development

Flood-prone property at a key Noblesville intersection is set to be developed as eight commercial lots anchored by a Hyundai dealership.

Noblesville’s Common Council this month approved a zoning change and development agreement to clear the way for Terry Lee Crossing, proposed for a 52-acre parcel at the corner of state roads 37 and 32. Federal emergency-management officials also must sign off on the project.
 
As IBJ reported in July, auto dealer Terry Lee, who operates a Honda dealership in Avon, bought the property in 2011 and wants to build a 38,000-square-foot sales and service operation on eight acres at the busy intersection. The remaining seven lots would be available to other developers; 19 acres will remain undeveloped.

But before any construction can begin, drainage issues on the site must be resolved. City officials have been working with Lee’s development team for more than a year to come up with a plan to pay for necessary infrastructure improvements.

To address the flooding problems, an existing drainage ditch must be rebuilt—at an estimated cost of more than $2 million—and sanitary sewer lines extended to allow for additional development north of State Road 32. Access roads and turn lanes into the development also will be built, along with extensions of Cherry Street and Presley Drive (plus a couple of roundabouts and a bridge).

Public contributions to the project are expected to be at least $7.7 million:

— $1.5 million from the additional tax revenue expected from the Hyundai lot
— $1.5 million from the city’s traffic impact fund
— $500,000 from its sanitary sewer extension fund
— $1 million from the Indiana Department of Transportation
— $2 million from the proceeds of a bond guaranteed by the developer (and backed by the  tax increment expected from the easternmost lots)
— $1.2 million from the taxes generated by the three remaining lots along State Road 37.

The city also agreed to help pay for the drainage project by splitting any tax revenue remaining after bond debt payments until 2025, or whenever eligible expenses have been covered.

The Hyundai dealership is expected to create 76 jobs with an estimated annual payroll of $3.7 million. Lee also has agreed to donate property for the roads, sewers and drainage improvements—along with land for the work-in-progress Midland Trace Trail.

Councilors approved the deal in a 4-3 vote on Sept. 10.

The drainage and infrastructure improvements will help future economic development efforts in the area, council member Gregory O’Connor said, calling the agreement “as good a win-win scenario as we can come up with.”