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editorial
Revitalize wise
Applause go to Carmel mayor's plan
to turn prime acreage into a campus
of offices, shops, entertainment.
"Hey, we've got a deal for you—some prime land for devel-
opment near downtown Carmel."
That's not a developer's voice you hear.
It's the mayor of Cannel.
• The beauty part of the deal is the revitalization of 73 acres of .
• the city along a main thoroughfare, Rangeline Road.
Cannel City Center would sit between the city
z,.-_' T government offices and the city's small down-
,::-: ---- 1
,., town. Private and public funds totaling $77 mil-
lion would pay for the project.
• T%"° Potentially. Carmel City Center offers huge
-. benefits for anyone willing to cooperate with the
,{ft city's plans.
• About 20 developers of retail shops or offices
7::-.: : have met so far with Nlayor James Brainard in
the past 60 days.They've heard the same plans
Brainard — plus technical details—the mayor made pub-
lic May 15.
Connections At the same time as the pub-
lic announcement, several bro-
The Carmel City Center kers from the Carmel area
proposal can be viewed on were informally showing the
• the World Wide Web.The plans to restaurant and retail
address:
http://www.carmelcenter • representatives at a Las Vegas
.cam/ trade show.The brokers' con-
People may call City tacts generated phone calls and
to City Hall to
- y
Hall at (317) 571-2400 or visitors to come 2
t
write the mayor at: Mayor's learn inure about the project.
J ct.
Office, City Hall, 1 Civic Potential bidders are still
Square, Carmel, IN 46032. signing up for appointments to .
discuss the project with
Brainard. No bidders have officially signed up yet, of course.The
city council isn't expected to vole on the project until sometime
in June.
Plans call for 200,000 square feet of movie theaters,,restaurants
and retail shops;400,000 square feet of offices; a 50,000-square-
. foot community center; a 50,000-square-foot performing arts cen-
ter; and an amphitheater.
A committee of some of the area's top executives and well-
known citizens will steer the project. •
The city government would have to borrow $13 million to buy
the land, set aside green space, and build roads and other infra-
structure.The land will be resold to private developers, who will
carry out the project. •
The city's loan will be repaid using new tax dollars generated
by the project. Current taxpayers should not feel any impact,
we've been told:'
The only impact on Carmel citizens will,be the transformation
• of a vacant shopping center and an aging shopping complex.
Brainard called it"vibrant."
We agree and applaud his economic revitalization efforts.