Multimillion-dollar plan would revitalize downtown Plainfield
PLAINFIELD, Ind (WISH) — This Hendricks County town is working to revitalize its downtown area and is starting with a project on the eastern portion.
A new complex will spread about 2-1/2 blocks from U.S. 40 and Avon Avenue to East Street. Town leaders hope it will serve as a catapult to revitalize the downtown area. Business owners are hoping the same.
At Rock Bottom Treasures in downtown Plainfield, what keeps business spinning is its unique collection of vinyl records.
“They like, of course, the music. That’s the big thing. I also specialize a little bit in video games, retro toys and clothes,” said Rock Bottom Treasures owner Scott Burress.
But, because business is business regardless of what you do, there are some challenges.
“You need to sell quite a few records to break even and try to realize a profit,” Burress said.
For Burress, hearing the town’s plans to develop the downtown area was like music to his ears.
“Anything that brings more traffic to my store, I feel like it’s going to be a positive,” the business owner said.
Town Council member Dan Bridget said the development will start on the east side of downtown with a private developer, Fishers-based Rebar Development. The Fishers company plans to invest $21 million to construct a four-story complex.
“They’re building a multiple-story, a mixed-use. ‘Mix use’ means it’s going to be apartments and retail space,” Bridget said.
The complex would house up to 125 apartments, according to Bridget, and would include a larger anchor store as well as smaller retails suites along the ground floor of the building.
This project would be just the start of a 20-year plan to revitalize the downtown area. Bridget called it a conceptual plan, subject to change. But, he said, downtown Plainfield ideally would have a performing arts center, a multilevel parking garage and green space.
“The secret to a vibrant downtown is a place where people want to come. There is something that draws them down here,” record store owner Bridget said.
At Rock Bottom, they won’t miss a beat on the business opportunity.
“What I see is just growing what’s already here,” Burress said.
According to town councilor Bridget, construction is expected to begin next spring or summer and will not wrap for another year and a half. Bridget said the project is not yet set in stone.