Westfield school district sells 20 acres for $1.3M

The Westfield Youth Soccer Association/Indiana Fire Juniors soccer club will have to find a new home by next year.

The Westfield-Washington School Board recently approved the sale of about 20 acres of land to the east of Shamrock Springs Elementary School on 161st Street to a private development company for $1.3 million.

The land has been used for youth soccer for about 20 years, according to Superintendent Mark Keen.

Not wanting to immediately displace the youth soccer league, Keen said the school district negotiated the terms of the sale with EdgeRock Development LLC to prevent any construction until after mid-November. Soccer games can continue there through the spring and fall seasons.

With plans to sell the land in the works for a couple years, Keen said the soccer association has known what to expect. With 31 fields at Grand Park and other space available near Monon Trail Elementary School, there are options for the youth league.

“They were aware we could sell the ground, and they could be looking for new ground in 2016,” Keen said.

He said the school district decided to sell land as a way to find new funding for technology and building maintenance.

The land was appraised at $50,000 an acre, and EdgeRock offered $65,000 per acre.

“We had no educational reason for it,” Keen said of the 20 acres.

Details on what to expect in place of the soccer fields haven’t been announced yet, but Keen expects it to provide a buffer between the commercial section and neighboring residential properties. This could be condominiums, apartments or possibly custom cottages.

EdgeRock still needs to acquire rezoning approval from the city before the deal is finalized. Until then, the school district still owns it.

EdgeRock is also the company developing land at the corner of U.S. 31 and State Road 32, known as “The Junction.” The school district sold the 9.6-acre property where the football/track stadium and junior varsity baseball field currently sit to Westfield Community Investors for $4 million last year.

That project, estimated to cost $40 million, could include a multi-story hotel, multi-story medical building, two to three story tenant building and possibly other commercial or senior living facilities.