CROWN POINT | Predicting construction on a "mid-range" hotel will start in the spring, Hawk Development Vice President Todd Kleven has received city Plan Commission approval for the second phase of the Galleria commercial and retail complex.
Kleven said the lifestyle shopping center portion of the Galleria planned for the north side of 109th Avenue between Delaware Parkway and Interstate 65 will have to wait for the widening of 109th and the extension of Delaware north to 107th Avenue. The commission granted an extension on its approval of that phase of the project for another year, although the road construction might not begin until 2018.
"Our plan is to remain patient on the north side to let the city develop 109th and see how that fits," Kleven said. "The Indiana Department of Transportation has stamped that for 2018, and when we heard that, we got a little nervous."
He said the 109th project could get moved up to 2017, but, in the meantime, plans to install a signal at Delaware will make it possible for I-65 Properties, a division of Hawk, to begin development of about 20 acres on the south side of the road, including the hotel, which he said will have 100 to 130 rooms, a pool and either a restaurant or a continental breakfast dining facility.
Hawk plans to put in the roads and other infrastructure, including a detention pond with a fountain at the far east portion of the property next to the hotel. The detention pond has been enlarged at the city's request to handle run-off from the road widening project. A bike path also is planned through the development, and a milkweed garden to attract monarch butterflies is planned at the southeast corner.
The developer will be before the city's Board of Zoning Appeals on Nov. 23 to seek variances to reduce the width of the development's two roads from 60 feet to 40 feet and to construct a cul de sac longer than the maximum 600 feet. The one challenge will be the presence of a Buckeye oil pipeline, but Kleven said Hawk will work with Buckeye to meet all its requirements.
Two objections were raised during a public hearing, both dealing with the north/south road in the middle of the development. It will be built with a right turn in/right turn out configuration at 109th, but Kleven said it is aligned with the proposed entrance to the north side and would be engineered to convert to a signalized intersection, if needed.
Patrick Mysliwy, lawyer for Victor Sayers, who owns the home on 109th in the center of the Galleria Phase II project, said the development will increase traffic on 109th to the point that the Sayers won't be able to get out of their driveway. Mysliwy said the road should be moved adjacent to the Sayers' property so it could be used as a safer access for Sayers to 109th.
Kleven said that would mean building acceleration and deceleration lanes on Sayers' property, which Hawk can't legally do. The lawyer for Dr. Mark Kendra, who owns property to the south of Hawk's project, said the plan should have followed the city's comprehensive plan and extended Rhode Island Street along the east border of Galleria Phase I through Phase II to Kendra's property to prevent it from being landlocked.
Kleven said it wouldn't be economically feasible for Hawk to put in roads and infrastructure for other developers. City Engineer Tris Miles said the consultants for the 109th project looked at Rhode Island and determined it would be too close to the I-65 interchange to be viable.
Commission Chairman John Marshall said, "Our job is to try to make this all flow, but not at Hawk's expense."
After debating whether the commission needed more time to consider the protesters' comments, the commission voted 6-0, with Michael Conquest absent, to approve the plans contingent on the BZA approval of the variances.