A former New Albany golf course has been rezoned to improve its marketability as part of the New Albany International Business Park.

New Albany City Council in June approved the rezoning of 310 acres, 207 of which includes the former Winding Hollow Golf and Event Center, 6140 Babbitt Road. The facility closed in January 2015.

Tom Rubey, development director for the New Albany Co., which owns the Winding Hollow land, said the zoning change opens the site up for consideration from more users.

He said although he couldn’t provide a timeline for when the land would be developed, the New Albany Co. has been marketing the site.

“Our success in landing high-quality companies in New Albany has been due to us having shovel-ready sites that are appropriately zoned with power redundancy, infrastructure and the like,” Rubey said.

New businesses usually are good news for New Albany.

More than 80 percent of New Albany’s annual revenue is tied to income taxes, according to city spokesman Scott McAfee. That’s why city leaders place an emphasis on building a strong job base in the city, he said.

The zoning change from limited office-campus district to limited general employment could help attract large corporate headquarters and technology parks, according to community-development director Jennifer Chrysler’s legislative report to City Council.

The reason is the new zoning would allow more uses than the previous one did, the report said.

The site was annexed in 2015, most of it from Plain Township, Chrysler said. The land is south of state Route 161 along the Beech Road corridor.

Ideally, a tenant or tenants would want to build a campus on the site, Chrysler said. Although companies have not been identified, the rezoning is a proactive measure to prepare for future opportunities, she said.

“It’s just one more step in trying to get it ready for future prospects,” she said.

The business park already includes corporate and regional offices and companies that specialize in health care, information technology, technology, personal care and beauty, manufacturing and logistics, Chrysler said.

The Winding Hollow land could be used for any of those industries, although a research facility or corporate headquarters would best support the infrastructure that would need to be developed in the area, she said.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week News