The Grand Junction is a long-term facelift for the City of Westfield, aiming to revitalize the area and create a unique, memorable, and sustainable heart for the city. Over the next 25 years, Westfield’s vision for the Grand Junction involves redeveloping existing homes and businesses, creating parks, plazas, gardens, and other outdoor areas, and constructing performance venues, recreational areas, and trails. In August, officials broke ground on the first new construction project in the area – an upscale apartment complex.
$8 million has already been committed to construction costs, although the Westfield mayor predicts the project will end up costing upwards of $50 million. Parts of the project are being funded by TIF, or tax increment financing. The idea behind TIF is that a current redevelopment project will result in future increase in tax revenue, which can then be used to pay for the original redevelopment project. For the Grand Junction project, the City of Westfield has agreed to provide the project with financing upfront, which it will (theoretically) later recoup in the future in the form of increased tax revenues. Thus far, no plans for land acquisition for the project have been revealed. However, in a related project, right-of-way acquisition is about to begin to upgrade the Monon Trail, which runs through downtown Westfield.
