JEFFERSONVILLE — Along with hotels, restaurants and senior housing, a more than 70-acre commercial campus is bringing a business Jeffersonville hasn't seen in decades — a movie theater.
Bridgepointe Commons, developed by Louisville-based Denton Floyd Real Estate Group, will be just north of the Interstate 265/Indiana 62/Port Road interchange in east Jeffersonville.
A proposed map of the development features several additions — four hotels, a medical campus, restaurants, senior housing, a cinema, a bank and other retail. Real estate firm owner Brandon Denton said there will be two big-box stores anchoring the development.
"We have a number of interested users that have already been in contact with us, but we're keeping an open mind," Denton said. "[We] really want to cherry-pick who we're letting in there because of the prime location."
The developer already has agreements with some franchises in place, but Denton said he couldn't disclose who is coming to Bridgepointe Commons just yet.
Visitors can expect there will be no drive-thru restaurants, though; Denton Floyd wants something higher end, but not "white table cloth." Rather, developers are looking for someplace to "sit down and eat for a reasonable price with your family."
Preparation of the site, alone, will cost about $4 million, but Denton said the total investment in Bridgepointe Commons could be more than $100 million.
Denton Floyd Real Estate Group is drawn to the property for the same reason many other developers are flocking to the area.
"The reason we're developing this piece of land is we think it's perfect timing with the east-end bridge coming online at the end of the year," Denton said. He's anticipating people from not only Clark County but Louisville will visit the campus because of its proximity to the interstate.
Also joining the development is a new $4 million public road called Iron Street Way that Jeffersonville is funding and building.
The half-mile section of new pavement will begin at a lighted intersection at Indiana 62, halfway between the roundabout and Utica Sellersburg Road, extending southeast to cross New Chapel Road and connecting to Utica Sellersburg Road. The road will feature sidewalks, landscaping and lighting.
Without the road, Denton said Bridgepointe Commons wouldn't be feasible.
"It's a right-of-way road that goes all the way back through the development along 265," he said. "It's quite a big road. With that road and the fact that we're dealing with over 70 acres — the amount of public infrastructure is pretty drastic for something like that. It helps us as a developer."
The road and commercial development are located within the new tax increment finance, or TIF, district that city officials just expanded.
TIFs are the primary funding source for Indiana redevelopment commissions. Tax revenue generated from a TIF district is handed to redevelopment commissions to reinvest back into communities for infrastructure and other redevelopment projects, such as the 10th Street widening project.
City financial advisers predicted recently that if $150 million worth of private investment occurs within the expanded TIF district, the city could generate $4.7 million in revenue per year.
"That's the $4 million-plus that the [Jeffersonville Redevelopment Commission is] going to reap from expanding the TIF," Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore said of Bridgepointe Commons.
The development is good news for Greater Clark County School Corp., which will receive 10 percent of the revenue in the expanded district.
But the road is also good news for the Steeple Chase neighborhood, Moore said, because it will pull cars from the residential area.
"Steeple Chase is one of the neighborhoods notoriously used for cut-throughs, so that road's going to create multiple purposes," he said.
Developers should be ready to begin construction by spring, Denton said.