Carmel panel accepting bids for ‘beachfront property’ in Midtown

The Carmel Redevelopment Commission is accepting bids for almost five acres of land along the Monon Greenway in the city’s so-called Midtown area, which is being targeted for renewal.

Located between redevelopment forerunners Carmel City Center and Main Street, the industrial-commercial corridor is slated to get a $150 million upgrade east of the Monon under a plan Old Town Design Group unveiled last month.

The Sept. 15 announcement has piqued developers’ interest in the city-owned property north of the Midtown water tower, CRC Executive Director Corrie Meyer said last week. The two-acre parcel on the west side of the trail once housed Carmel’s street department.

City Council transferred the land to the CRC in a unanimous vote Oct. 6, clearing the panel to sell it along with neighboring property the redevelopment commission already owned. The final sale price must win council’s approval.

Bids are due at noon Oct. 29—just two weeks after the sale notice was released publicly. Offers will be opened Oct. 30, and the CRC wants to close by the end of the year.

The minimum acceptable offer, based on the average of two appraisals: $1.7 million.

The sale notice spells out some “permitted uses” for the property, including a rebuilding/redesign of the Monon to fit land-use planner Jeff Speck’s blueprint for the area. The buyer also would be permitted to construct for-sale residential units and a mixed-use building no larger than 20,000 square feet.

The CRC will “give preference to bidders that own, control and/or will develop the real estate adjacent to the parcels,” the notice says.

Principal City Center developer Pedcor Cos. owns much of the land along the west side of the recreational trail, which has been described as Carmel’s equivalent of beachfront property.

As IBJ reported last year, the company has been working on a $100 million Midtown plan of its own. But CEO Bruce Cordingley said that’s on the back burner while Pedcor focuses on finishing City Center.

Cordingley declined to answer when IBJ asked if Pedcor would submit a bid for the Midtown property.

“Most of our time is being spent on finalizing the plans for [Carmel City Center,] so nothing new on Midtown,” he wrote in an email.