A multi-phase redevelopment of the former Cooper Stadium site appears to be moving forward after getting a vote of approval from the Southwest Area Commission.
The latest plan calls for two mixed-use buildings on the west side of the site, several apartment buildings on the site’s southern boundary, two retail buildings along Mound Street, and what looks like a large warehouse that would be separated from the rest of the site and accessed from Mt. Calvary Avenue.
The proposal would preserve the two brick buildings still standing on the site, as well as what remains of the stadium itself; the grandstand that once ran down the third base line.
A site plan submitted to the city shows that the land where the rest of the stadium once stood would be turned into green space, while the former field area would be converted into “paved event space.” Stacked shipping containers would line the south and east edges of the site.
A zoning document summarizing the Council Variance being requested for the site states that the apartment complex would hold a maximum of 550 units, starting with a 100-unit first phase. The apartments “will have an urban design emphasizing landscaped and sidewalk connections to other uses on the site,” according to the document.
It also states that the mixed-use buildings will be no more than six stories tall, with a first floor dedicated to parking, although no details about what exactly the other uses in the buildings would be are provided.
Anthony Celebrezze, Assistant Director of the Department of Building and Zoning Services, said that the city’s Planning Division supports the application, and that the area commission voted 7-1 to approve it in February. The yes vote did have one condition, though; that the number of parking spaces provided for the apartments be increased, from a ratio of 0.75 spaces per unit to one space per unit.
The applicant is Arshot Investment Corporation, the company that bought the site from Franklin County in 2012 and proposed building a racetrack-centered development called the Sports Pavilion & Automotive Research Center (SPARC) on the 47-acre site. In 2019, the developer presented the first non-racetrack plan for the site to the neighborhood, but this is the first public update on the project since then.
Arshot did not respond to requests for more information.
Celebrezze said he expects the development to be heard by the Development Commission in May. If it’s approved by that board, it would then move on to City Council.