Auto dealer pitches Noblesville development, future transit hub

An affiliate of Indianapolis-based Ed Martin Automotive Group wants to rezone 40 acres of land at the northwest corner of State Road 37 and 141st Street for a planned Toyota dealership and other mixed-use development—including a possible transit hub.

The vacant property, which Prime Development of Indiana LLC has under contract, surrounds a parcel that’s now home to a stand-alone frozen custard stand. The Nickel Plate rail line runs along its western border.

About 5 acres in that area “may be suitable and ultimately offered for use to serve as a bus or rail passenger terminal in conjunction with a proposed long-range transit initiative,” the developer said in its rezoning and preliminary development plan request.

“We are actively communicating with the city” about setting aside property for a transit hub, said Ed Martin attorney Andi Metzel, a partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP in Indianapolis. “It’s definitely part of the long-range vision for being a good community partner.”

The developer also plans to turn over land to the city of Noblesville to extend Herriman Boulevard south through the property. It would connect with Fishers’ Britton Park Road south of 141st Street.

Ed Martin Pointe would be anchored by a Toyota dealership on 10 acres east of the extended Herriman. A preliminary site plan shows a 50,000-square-foot building and 699 parking spaces. Metzel said the dealership is expected to create about 100 jobs.

The project represents a “considerable investment” in Noblesville, Metzel said. She said a cost estimate is not yet available.

“It’s a definite complement to area and other development on that corridor,” she said.

The automotive group already has eight dealerships in central Indiana, including a Toyota outlet in Anderson. Metzel said the Noblesville location will not affect operations at existing locations.

Construction could start as soon as the city signs off on the project, she said. If work starts this spring, the dealership could be open by summer.

Metzel said the developer also is engaged in “active conversations” with potential users for the rest of the property: a 12.9-acre parcel with frontage along 141st west of Herriman, 5 acres north of that along the rail line, and a 9.5-acre tract north of the dealership.

Officials will begin reviewing the project next week. It likely will be on the Noblesville Plan Commission’s agenda in March.

If it’s approved, the Toyota dealership would join a growing array of car-shopping options along State Road 37 from 126th Street (Cadillac and Ford) north to State Roads 32/38, where auto dealer Terry Lee is building a Hyundai lot to anchor a bigger development.