Buying a house in Carmel? 5 park projects that change which neighborhoods you look at

If you’re buying a house in Carmel, you need to know which park projects are coming and where. If not, you pick a neighborhood off what’s there today. But if you do, you see where Carmel is putting its money next.

1. Bear Creek Park. Shelborne Road and 146th Street. A new playground, tennis courts, and a half basketball court first, with a tree-house style walking path in coming years. It sits right across from the new Pulte townhomes, and the existing neighborhoods get a new local park too.

2. Japanese Gardens, extended. I already see lots of people walking the garden at City Hall. It will expand south to the pond next to the Proscenium building, where the old Wahlburgers and 101 Craft Kitchen were.

3. Veterans Park. Old Meridian Street and Grand Boulevard, by Bar Louie, on what is now a vacant lot. A real water feature, not a retention pond, and space for public gatherings of 20 to 40 people. A $15M investment.

4. Founders Park boardwalk. Near Hazel Dell Parkway and 116th. Most people miss the pond in the old rock quarry because it sits below eye level. It gets a boardwalk across it. And the new Hazel Landing bridge connects Carmel and Fishers across the White River, so you can ride to Town Run without riding along 96th Street.

5. The $6.5K impact fee. Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation runs on a $22M annual budget. About 1/3 comes from the City of Carmel. The other 2/3 comes from self-generated revenue (the Monon Community Center, before and after school care, summer camps, dog parks) and park impact fees. The internal mandate is 100% cost recovery on those programs.

The impact fee is $6.5K per new residential unit, paid by the developer, and it pays for capital projects, not staff or trucks. A 100-unit apartment building pays 100 times $6.5K. A teardown rebuild in West Carmel doesn’t count.

Carmel parks get around 6 million visits a year. Zion National Park got nearly 5 million in 2025. Granted, a lot of Carmel’s are repeat visitors.

I grew up in Home Place and went to the old Orchard Park Elementary. I remember riding my bike past the “NO ANNEXATION” signs. If Carmel is investing in other areas, it’s good to see it in Home Place too, with incentives for development and new walking and transportation links.

You don’t need a house picked out or a plan. If you’re wondering what may or may not be possible for you, email me at nlamkin@c21scheetz.com and let’s talk it through.

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