By CODY ADAMS
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The Carmel city government is unveiling plans for the Monon Square redevelopment, right along the trail, allowing for multiuse businesses as well as apartments and condos.
On top of that, they’re also planning on a new development on the outskirts of the city.
Between the two, they will equal nearly $1 billion in redevelopment projects.
Mestetksy
“Monon Square is really our last missing piece between our City Center area and our Midtown redevelopment area,” Carmel Redevelopment Director Henry Mestetsky said. “We used a world-renowned urban planner, Jeff Speck, to plan Midtown and we brought him back to plan Monon Square.”
The decision to redevelop that area did not sit well with many of the business owners forced to relocate. Mestetsky says small businesses are a major part of Carmel’s plans for the future.
“We always focus on our small businesses,” Mestetsky said. “For Monon Square, since 2018, those month-to-month tenants have known that redevelopment was coming. We hired several brokers to help many of them relocate, and many of them have relocated. I personally found a new location for Union Brewery. I’m quite proud of that. I’m excited to see them in their new location along with many of the other businesses in Monon Square.”
The first phase, the Monon Square redevelopment, has a price tag of $100 million. A new project at 111th and Pennsylvania streets, with a price tag of $700 million, will turn an open field into a whole new part of the city.
“This is going to transform it. It will be walkable, vibrant, and have a big open plaza in the middle of it, filled with amenities,” Mestetsky said. “We expect there to be a lot of for-sale housing, a 12.5 percent workforce housing component, and lots of new retail, lots of new offices.”
He says the best part is taxpayers won’t feel a thing. The money to fund the projects is coming from future taxes from the projects. Mestetsky says it’s all so the city can continue to develop into a destination.
“The goal here is to build an amazing place to live, and an amazing place to work,” he said.