Indianapolis-based RealAmerica is eyeing about 7 acres of undeveloped land near West Broadway’s intersection with CR 750N, next to the Gardens on Gateway Senior Apartments that’s being developed, visible in the distance on the left, and the property housing The Grill restaurant, in the distance on the right.
Mitchell Kirk | Daily Reporter
McCORDSVILLE — A developer wants to bring self-storage and commercial space off one of McCordsville’s thoroughfares.
Town officials are receptive to the proposal, but have concerns over noise and light potentially affecting nearby residences. Leaders also note that a road passing the site will lead to McCordsville’s future town center, prompting concerns over aesthetics.
Indianapolis-based RealAmerica is eyeing about 7 acres of undeveloped land near West Broadway’s intersection with CR 750N, next to the Gardens on Gateway Senior Apartments that’s being developed and the property housing The Grill restaurant.
Mike Surak of RealAmerica said during an informal development proposal before McCordsville Town Council earlier this week that preliminary ideas for the project consist of commercial space along Broadway with self-storage behind it.
“Obviously great visibility, high traffic counts, strong demographics, surrounded by a lot of residential — all great data points for why we thought this would be great for self-storage,” Surak said.
He added that other self-storage providers in the area are nearing capacity and pointed to all of the residential development McCordsville has been drawing.
“We think this product would be very popular,” he said.
RealAmerica would like to preserve the area in the corner of Broadway and CR 750 for a future commercial property housing something like a
medical office, daycare or bank, Surak said.
“We’re very confident that that could be attractive for a variety of different users,” he said.
Surak said RealAmerica is also weighing incorporating a commercial or retail component into the self-storage part for uses like small businesses, financial services, a law office, accounting firm or hair salon.
If the project moves forward, the developer would likely start with an initial phase of 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of self-storage and 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of commercial space, Surak said.
Surak and his colleagues believe the site could accommodate more than 100,000 square feet of development. Depending on demand, other phases could follow, as they did with a similar RealAmerica development in Carmel.
Branden Williams, who represents the area the site is in on McCordsville Town Council, noted the potential development’s proximity to Gateway Crossing Apartments and the planned Hampton Walk subdivision to the east, which will include housing with higher density characteristics like townhomes and duplexes.
”…[I]f we were going to have another project like this in town, I don’t know if there’s a better spot, to be honest with you,” Williams said. “…I guess the concern would be the 24-hour traffic probably coming in and out of the facility and what the lighting will be like.”
Tom Strayer, McCordsville Town Council president, pointed out that CR 750 will be one of the main access points for the future town center to the east. He doesn’t want the view for travelers heading there to be a long line overhead doors, but is encouraged by the potential for commercial components to hide that.
“Now I know you want people to know it’s there,” Strayer told Surak, “but this is the wrong place for a very visual self-storage place because this is our entrance into what we want our future to be. … I would be OK with it if it looked like a business development from the road.”
The site is within a planned unit development with its own development standards, one of which prohibits self-storage, so that would need to be amended if the project moves forward.
