Westfield Mayor Scott Willis said plans to develop NorthPoint II are back on track.
The proposed 180-acre NorthPoint II commercial/industrial development north of Ind. 38 and east of Anthony Road is being developed by Holladay Construction Group development. The project was shelved by the city council in 2022 after an unfavorable recommendation from the Westfield Advisory Plan Commission.
But following his election to the mayor’s seat last year, Willis said plans to revive the development were on the horizon.
In November 2023, approximately 40 neighbors of the NorthPoint II development area attended a meeting with Willis. Although Willis used the meeting to express the city’s interest in taking advantage of future development along Ind. 38, residents in the area were frustrated at the idea of the encroaching commercial space.
Since then, Willis said the city has continued to work with local landowners to address their concerns while still moving the project forward.
“This is a second, third, fourth attempt at getting this project off the ground,” Willis told the Westfield City Council Feb. 12 during the introduction of the PUD and unified development ordinance. “We had a town hall meeting with residents in the area to try to get engagement going around this.”
Willis recognized that not all the residents in proximity to the project were in favor of it.
“I do believe this is a very important location for our city around commercial development. I’m happy they were willing to meet with us and try to find a compromise,” said Willis, adding that residents have created a task force and brought to the city at least one dozen items that they would like to see changed or addressed in the agreement.
Still, Willis is confident the project will move ahead.
“I feel we’ve set a tone and a standard of future development that I would like to emulate in other areas that may be a bit more difficult to develop in our community,” Willis said. “I’m very encouraged by how this went. The residents have been magnificent. They’re not excited about it, but they’ve been magnificent in working with us and giving us fair requests and it’s going to make it a better project.”
Willis also asked the city council not to pick the project apart while the process is underway, because it has taken a lot of work to get to this point, with a lot of work left to be done.
Per the zoning summary presented to councilmembers in February, NorthPoint is proposing to expand the Commerce Park uses of the NorthPoint Project to meet the continued demand of users in the Westfield market. City officials noted that market demand means there are large scale — but as of yet unknown publicly — projects seeking Westfield as their base for operations.
The city’s development team noted that the expansion of the Northpoint planned unit development to the north side of Ind. 38 is the logical and reasonable next step for the process. The 300-acre Phase 1 of NorthPoint development was completed between 2019 and 2022. The additional 180-acres of land were added to the development with the anticipation of Phase 2 development in 2020.
Per the zoning summary, a proposed buffer to the existing single-family development on Anthony Road, an area designated as “Preservation Area,” has been built into the ordinance. That area would consist of 10 acres earmarked as a common area with no active development and would include plantings of hardwood saplings.
The timeline for the PUD includes a public hearing March 4 during the APC meeting, followed by an APC workshop April 15.
APC recommendation is anticipated in May, with final adoption currently anticipated for May 13.
