Amid stalled development in Westfield, a plan for the future emerges

Down a quiet stretch of road along U.S. 31 in Westfield is a street with a name that’s likely become a sore spot in the city. It certainly is for Chris Wilkes of Holladay Properties.

At the end of Bastian Court is the Westfield manufacturing site for Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Advanced Logistics Company. The business opened in Westfield in 2019 during a series of economic development announcements in the NorthPoint business park developed and managed by South Bend-based Holladay Properties.

The city of 50,000 people and growing is a prime location along a busy highway with fertile development ground, yet those business announcements have slowed in Westfield in recent years. As neighboring Hamilton County cities continue to lure companies and major projects, Westfield leaders and business owners are left wondering if a new government at the start of 2024 will turn economic development opportunities around after several years of political infighting between elected leaders.

Candidates with no opponents in November are already preparing for how to move Westfield forward, with about four months to go until a new mayor, a new clerk-treasurer and new city council take office.

Bastian’s Westfield manufacturing site will close in the coming years after it ceases operations in the city and moves to its future $130 million corporate headquarters in Noblesville. It will leave behind a vacant 90,000-square foot building along U.S. 31 in the NorthPoint park, an empty bean field north of Sheridan Road and a street name with a reminder of what used to be.

“I know what we’re going to lose with Bastian, so it’s almost depressing or deflating to drive through,” Wilkes said.

Before Bastian’s announcement

In 2017, Westfield Mayor Andy Cook and Gov. Eric Holcomb traveled to Japan to recruit Bastian Solutions to Westfield. They announced the project with Chairman Bill Bastian at the site of what will be the company's former property in the NorthPoint business park.

Following 2017, more companies announced they planned locations in the industrial park east of U.S. 31 in northern Westfield. In 2019, Westfield announced Gordon Food Service would build its first Indiana distribution facility in NorthPoint. Gordon Food Service still owns property in the business park, but construction has not started yet.

Shortly after Gordon Foods, Fortune 500 medical device company Abbott Labs shared it would open a medical device production site in Westfield, also at NorthPoint. It opened in 2021.

Mike Dale, head of Abbott’s Structural Heart Business, said its Westfield location, just north of Bastian Solutions on Bastian Court, has allowed the company to meet demand for an Abbott device that helps treat leaky heart valves.

“Westfield was chosen for a number of reasons,” Dale said in a prepared statement. “Its central location within the U.S., strong infrastructure and good labor force were all critical to our decision to build in Westfield, and the site has become a key component of our global supply chain for our cardiac devices.”

Other businesses hope Westfield can return to a place where major economic projects come to the city. Major new businesses are beneficial for everyone, especially those in the hospitality industry, said David McIntyre, a co-founder of West Fork Whiskey Co.

West Fork Whiskey Co., broke ground on its new restaurant and distillery just north of Grand Park in 2021 and celebrated the one-year anniversary of its official opening in August.

“A lot of businesses, especially hospitality businesses in Westfield, rely on Grand Park currently, to bring in that steady supply of guests," McIntyre said. "Other than that, it's obviously residents and folks who work in Westfield. So the more businesses we have, the more that leads to economic growth, not just for hospitality, but for every business operating in Westfield, because it's bringing more density.”

Planning for a post Bastian economy

The Bastian Solutions announcement earlier this year, although a win for Noblesville, only highlighted existing tensions between Cook and the Westfield City Council.

Cook told IndyStar in January that Westfield’s “economic development pipeline is empty” and blamed the city council for the reason developers do not want to invest in the city. Westfield council members at that time said they are not anti growth.

But the loss of the Bastian corporate headquarters became a talking point on the campaign trail ahead of the May primary as voters considered three Republican candidates for the city’s next mayor.

Scott Willis, a one-term city councilor, won the primary race. He does not face an opponent in the November election, which puts him in line to be Westfield’s next mayor. Ahead of the primary, he advocated for Westfield to diversify its tax base, which heavily relies on homeowners.

Willis wants to change the negative perception the city has when it comes to development.

In July he announced Westfield Washington Township Trustee Danielle Carey Tolan will lead his transition team, which includes the CEO of KSM Location Advisors, a company that helps find incentive packages and future sites for businesses.

"It starts with letting the development community and corporate America know that Westfield is open for business," Willis said. "One of the things I've been doing the last couple of months since I won the primary, I've been meeting with commercial developers, businesses, anybody and everybody that could have an impact on economic development and Westfield, to share my vision."

Willis said he would like to see the NorthPoint Two site, which Bastian considered for its corporate headquarters, come back to the city for a rezoning in the first quarter of his administration so that companies know there is a shovel-ready space in Westfield.

Before Holladay Properties can build on the nearly 184 acres north of State Road 38, the company needs to win zoning approval. The city's plan commission in August 2022 gave a negative recommendation to the Westfield City Council on Holladay's rezoning request after concerns from neighbors surrounding the property. Wilkes shortly after pulled the request because he didn't believe he had the votes for council approval.

The majority of candidates for Westfield's seven city council seats are unopposed in November's election. Those candidates say they are also working on what Westfield’s economic future might look like ahead of taking office. Contested races for the District 4 and the at-large seats will be decided by voters in November.

Victor McCarty, who won the Republican primary for the city council's District 2 seat and is unopposed in the general election, said he wants to see Westfield develop sister-city relationships with other countries and for city officials travel to build connections that could lead to new business opportunities, like Cook and Holcomb did in Japan.

"What good are we doing if we're just sitting and waiting for said business to come to Westfield," McCarty said. "Even though we're the fastest-growing city in Indiana and one of the fastest growing in the country, that doesn't mean that people are just going to look at us. We got to make sure we're also going out and doing the work."

Jon Dartt won the Republican primary for the city's District 1 council seat and is unopposed in November. He wants the city to further build a defined plan for where there should be economic growth.

"We've got an opportunity to learn about what Carmel has done well, and what Noblesville has done well, and what Fishers has done well, and utilize those great aspects and incorporate that into Westfield's vision," Dartt said.

NorthPoint today

As Wilkes of Holladay Properties drives along East Street, the $7.2 million road project the city opened through the NorthPoint park, he points out empty lots with no prospects. Around 100 scattered acres across NorthPoint are available for businesses, not including the land north of State Road 38.

“It's a pain to say this, but it hasn’t been very busy,” Wilkes said.

The drive saddens Wilkes, who oversees development at NorthPoint as well as AmeriPlex in Indianapolis, just south of the Indianapolis International Airport. He remembers the excitement that was once at NorthPoint. He felt the frustration, as both a developer and a Westfield resident, after the city did not win the Bastian Solutions headquarters.

Wilkes said he is optimistic about the new government and what a fresh perspective might mean for NorthPoint and all of Westfield.

“I would like to have the energy and momentum that we were experiencing with buildings and projects and new businesses coming to the park,” Wilkes said. “That's what we were always trying to do."

Contact IndyStar's Carmel and Westfield reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Amid stalled development in Westfield, a plan for the future emerges