The Redevelopment Commission approved a project agreement for the Browning Investments development along the north side of 116th Street, near the municipal complex.  Fishers Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner said the boundaries for this part of the project will be North Street, Maple Street to the east & 116th Street to the south.  The four existing buildings along 116th Street will remain as part of this plan.  The city is providing a $250,000 incentive in order to rehabilitate those structures.  The city also negotiated provisions in the agreement with Browning Investments/CRG allowing existing rents to be maintained for the existing buildings, for tenants in the building now throughout the construction period, and that will also apply to any new tenants for those existing buildings.  There is a cap for future tenants in those buildings once construction is done at $15 per square foot.

“The city is committed to making this a location for affordable downtown retail space,” Baumgartner said.

The agreement calls for incorporating planning for the Nickel Plate  Trail.  The city is offering $500,000 for the planned public plaza north of the Nickel Plate Bar & Grill location.

This agreement encompasses $61 million in project investment, including 235 residential units and a parking garage with 329 spaces.  The city will have access to 55 of those spaces exclusively.

A Tax Increment Finance (TIF) backed bond of $25 million will be used for land acquisition, parking garage, the incentives for building rehabilitation & the public plaza, as well as $200,000 of infrastructure improvements along Maple Street.

Construction should begin on this project in November of this year.  Completion of the work should take about two years.

The Redevelopment Commission also approved an amendment to the economic development agreement with Knowledge Services, allowing an extension of the time to begin construction on their new building to September 31st, 2019.  The office building is to be be located near Navient, along I-69.

Fishers Director of Economic Development Megan Baumgartner told Redevelopment Commission members that initially, Knowledge Services was focused only on the office building, but that has changed.

“(Knowledge Services) turned from looking at just their office building to a holistic approach to their whole 17 acres,” said Baungartner.  “We have the commitment from Knowledge Services that this project is moving forward, there’s no question as to their commitment to doing this project, just wanted to be very thoughtful in their approach.”

Baungartner later told LarryInFishers “holistic approach” means Knowledge Services was initially focused on the office building itself, but the firm is now looking at the larger plans for the entire 17 acres of land.

The Fishers City Council passed a resolution March 18th approving the extension.  The Redevelopment Commission could not vote on the measure last month due to a recusal by a commission member that resulted in the lack of a quorum.

In other action, the commission finalized the master lease for the Hub & Spoke project and a professional services agreement with Launch Fishers to continue running the IoT (Internet of Things) Lab.