McCORDSVILLE — Officials want to target an area along Mt. Comfort Road on the south edge of town for economic development.
Members of the McCordsville Redevelopment Commission and other town leaders recently suggested that Mt. Comfort Road between county roads 500N and 750N is ripe for development. They want to create an economic development area there so it will be “on the map” for site selectors.
“I think it’s safe to say we are certainly interested in the area in terms of its ability to drive economic development for the town,” commission President Suzanne Short said at a meeting last week.
Designating that part of Mt. Comfort Road as an economic development area would allow for more flexibility when dealing with developers in the future, she continued.
Officials discussed what improvements the area needs to spur economic development. Larry Longman, a redevelopment commission member and McCordsville town councilman, suggested drainage and road improvements. Ryan Crum, McCordsville’s director of planning and development, said a streetscape and improvements to utilities would be a good idea.
In November, a consultant, Lisa Lee, a partner with Ice Miller LLP in Indianapolis, suggested designating that part of Mt. Comfort Road as an economic development area. Such a move, Lee said, would show “on the map where the next important area to the town is located,” according to the meeting minutes.
The officials indicated they intend to have Lee guide them through the next steps of establishing the economic development area.
The economic development area designation is one aspect that Indy Partnership can tout on behalf of the town, McCordsville Town Manager Tonya Galbraith said at the meeting. Redevelopment commission members voted 4-0 to join the partnership.
Galbraith said the annual cost to belong to Indy Partnership is $1 per person of a municipality’s population, so about $6,500 for McCordsville.
Indy Partnership represents central Indiana and works to sell the region internationally by attending conferences and communicating with site selectors, Galbraith said.
“The thing I like about the Indy Partnership is they’re going to be out touting us, making people know we’re here,” Galbraith said.
As a partner, McCordsville will also get access to information site selectors relay to Indy Partnership on needs the town could fulfill, Galbraith said.
The commission also voted 4-0 to spend $3,500 on a half-page ad promoting the town in the June edition of Indianapolis Monthly. Galbraith said the magazine has a readership of over 300,000.
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"I think it’s safe to say we are certainly interested in the area in terms of its ability to drive economic development for the town."
Suzanne Short
McCordsville Redevelopment Commission president
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