After several years of negotiations, residential developers have reached agreement on the purchase and rezoning of prime land at Smokey Row Road and Keystone Parkway. Operating under the name Courtyards of Carmel, the firm will start construction early next year on a subdivision designed for residents 55 years of age and older wishing for smaller and more maintenance-free homes.
Courtyards of Carmel, whose parent company is the Ohio-based Epcon Corporation, plans 169 single family homes on the 59-acre tract.
The developer is the third firm to propose a Planned Unit Development (PUD) on the ground in the past four years. Previous groups interested in the project abandoned their plans.
Portions of the Hull-Brennan House near Smokey Row Road and Keystone Parkway date back to the 1830s. Historians say the structure is of architectural and historical significance. Epcon Corporation plans to build 169 new homes on the 59-acre site that includes the old dwelling. (Photo provided by Carmel Clay Historical Society)
The Carmel City Council gave approval of the PUD plans earlier this month after lengthy consideration with special emphasis on handling potential traffic challenges at the property entrance near Smokey Row Road and Keystone Parkway.
The property was owned for more than 100 years by the Hull-Brennan family. The last family resident, Henry Hull, died in 2015.
The home on the property is of particular significance because of its historic and architectural style. Part of the structure dates to 1834 with a larger brick portion dating to 1853. It was originally the home of the William Wilkinson pioneer family.
Epcon Corporation will give the house and small acreage around it to the Indiana Landmarks foundation, which will seek a buyer interested in restoring it. This is a service that Landmarks employs