Zionsville Considers Buy Downtown Real Estate for Parking Lot

The town of Zionsville is considering purchasing a piece of real estate in the downtown area as they look to “beautify” the downtown district.  The piece of property in question is the former Shell station at the intersection of Main and Pine Streets and now sits as an empty lot.  The town council has agreed to hire two appraisers to get a value on the land to determine if the town does indeed want to purchase the lot.

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The site was formerly approved for a combination luxury condominiums and retail space back in 2004, but the current owner has cited the current slow down in real estate as the reason for the project’s delay and he has also expressed interest in selling it.  Town Manager Ed Mitro says the site would be used for a permanent paved parking lot to alleviate parking problems currently affecting the downtown area.  It is estimated that the site could hold spots for 36 parking spaces.

It will be interesting to see what the appraisals come back at, but my initial thought is that this is too prime of real estate to devote to a parking lot.  I understand the need for parking, but how much are 36 spaces worth?   Maybe this is just one of those things, like a new roof on your house that you desperately need but hate to fork over the cash for such a mundane item.  I might be crazy but, now seems like a great time to build something like the condo/retail space that was originally proposed.  It will take several years to put something like this together and by then the real estate market will be back in full swing.  Of course, it is not my money on the line:)

What do you think?  Parking lot? Condos?  Should the town buy it?