Ron Hamilton, Shelbyville News staff writer
The First Presbyterian Church, located at 124 W. Broadway St. in Shelbyville, has agreed to sell 185 acres of land near the East State Road 44 exit of Interstate 74 to a retail-development firm, church officials confirmed Monday.
The land, donated to the church 75 years ago by benefactor and real estate attorney John A. Tindall, will be purchased and converted into a retail complex by the Shelbyville Development Group L.L.C.
According to church officials, SDG is owned by three business men: Wyoming developer Tom Kremer, who also is developing the truck stop and convenience store area at the St. Paul exit of I-74; along with Greensburg investor Robert L. Rynard Jr., who owns the Greensburg Holiday Inn and other Decatur County properties; and Louisville investor Chad Middendorf.
The church confirmed the sale in a news release signed by Middendorf and local attorney and church committee chairman Bob Thopy.
"The church membership felt they would be the best stewards of the Tindall gift by expanding the work of the church both inside and outside the community," Thopy said. "After various surveys, inspections and 'due diligence' activities, the sale could be completed late in the year. There are still a number of things this early in the transaction that could affect the deal, but right now, it appears to be on track."
Thopy explained that "due diligence" is normal in such transactions. It is the audit of a potential investment or business transaction in which one or both sides try to prevent future problems by carefully investigating and documenting such issues as insurance liability coverage and the financial, legal, tax, environmental, market or commercial situation of a company.
Although neither side would discuss specific details of the pending sale, including the price of the land, reliable estimates place the value of land in that area at between $30,000 and $50,000 an acre. At that rate, the deal could net more than $6 million.
The acreage is located just east of the Bigfoot convenience store and the Farm Bureau Insurance building, on the south side of East SR 44 near the I-74 interchange. It is near the rapidly growing development on the city's east side near the Wal-Mart Supercenter and the new city-county park. The easy access to the interstate and the short distance from the future Honda manufacturing plant in Greensburg make the land very valuable, officials said.
Dan Theobald, executive director of the Shelby County Development Corp., was ecstatic. He said he had been working with the Wyoming developer and the two investors since last September on the possible purchase of the land.
"The members of SCDC are very appreciative of the church's decision," he said. "It will help create jobs in our community and investment, which will help our taxpayers. This is a major step forward for our city and county."
According to church committee member Frank Learned, the congregation had considered selling the land in the past.
"This appears to be a really good and serious offer," he said. "We know it's contingent on a lot of things the buyer is going to have to do."
He explained that a church committee was appointed more than two years ago and spent a lot of time considering the sale of the Tindall land bequest.
"The committee members have been in communication with the congregation all during the negotiating process," he said. "It has really evolved over the last 20 years and come together over the last two years. It ended up making sense to the church, and we think now is an excellent time because it will be a tremendous thing for the community and the church."
The land was donated to the church in 1933 by Tindall. He also donated the land on South SR 9 that later became Tindall Cemetery, a burial place for the county's destitute.
"The development of this land on the east side of town could add tremendously to the tax base, but it needs to be developed with a good deal of thought," Theobald has said.
Two years ago, an engineering study was done in the area by the Indianapolis engineering firm of M.D. Wessler and Associates to consider the "developability" of the land. Information was compiled on water availability, waste water disposal, drainage, gas, electricity, transportation and current zoning. Larry Browning, president of Evergreen Investments, told The Shelbyville News last year that Major Hospital had considered the site before investing in Intelliplex Park on the city's north side.
Although not everybody in the church approves of the sale, Learned has said most members believe it is the fiscally responsible thing to do.
"Money from the sale will be invested so that it will continue to generate income for the church," he said.