Westfield council OKs $184M deal for partnership to manage Grand Park
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After a year of negotiations, Westfield has agreed to a 30-year, $184 million public-private partnership with a consortium of firms to manage and further develop the 400-acre Grand Park Sports Campus.
The Westfield City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a 91-page agreement that sets the terms for Grand Park Sports & Entertainment, a joint venture between Indianapolis-based Indy Sports and Entertainment and Westfield-based Bullpen Ventures LLC, to take over the 10-year-old sports campus.
Indy Sports & Entertainment consists of Indianapolis-based commercial development company Keystone Group LLC and the Indy Eleven professional soccer club. Each is led by real estate developer Ersal Ozdemir. Bullpen Ventures operates Bullpen Tournaments, which organizes baseball and softball tournaments at Grand Park.
“This is by far the biggest decision that our city has had to weigh in on, at least in modern-day history,” Westfield Mayor Scott Willis said Monday. “This park and this agreement are going to transform the city of Westfield, beyond what happens at that 400-acre sports campus.”
Westfield will retain ownership of Grand Park under the agreement that will go into effect Jan. 1. The city and Grand Park Sports & Entertainment will manage and develop the sports campus for 30 years, which includes an initial 10-year term and four five-year extensions.
A memorandum of understanding signed last year called for Grand Park Sports & Entertainment to manage Grand Park for 40 years and pay the city $300 million, but those terms changed during negotiations.
Under the terms of the deal, Grand Park Sports & Entertainment will pay the city $184 million over the 30-year term. In turn, the group will reap revenue from operating and developing the campus.
Grand Park Sports & Entertainment will also contribute $38 million into a shared escrow fund that can be used for capital improvements and other projects at Grand Park. The city will contribute $2 million to the escrow fund on Dec. 31, $1 million in 2025 and annual 2% increases in subsequent years.
Performance metrics will be set to ensure Grand Park’s management meets the city’s standards. The metrics will include visitor counts, out-of-area attendance and partnerships with local hotels. The city will look for an increase in unique visitors to Grand Park over the first 10 years from 3.25 million visitors in 2025 to 3.73 million visitors in 2034. The agreement also sets an expectation that at least 50% of tournament visitors will travel from more than 50 miles away.
This summer, Westfield leaders unveiled a plan to turn Grand Park into a year-round tourism destination by adding winter sports opportunities and transforming the area around the 400-acre sports campus into a hub of entertainment and recreational activity called Grand Park District.
Westfield Director of Facilities and Events Matthew Deck told council members that the agreement is a step toward the development of Grand Park District, which will require an estimated investment of $2 billion for land acquisition, winter sports components, structured parking, a hotel with a convention center, economic incentive packages for corporate headquarters, the development of a sports tech hub and the construction of a multisport stadium.
Deck said the city chose Grand Park Sports & Entertainment due to the vision the group has for Grand Park.
“The business of sports and entertainment is all about relationships,” he said. “The city can never replicate the deep relationships that GPSE has with the NCAA, FIFA, Big Ten Conference, Horizon League, [the Indiana High School Athletic Association], United Soccer League, Major League Soccer and [Major League Baseball].”
Grand Park has 31 soccer fields, 26 baseball diamonds, two administration buildings, seven concession stands and a 378,000-square-foot multi-use event center. The Indianapolis Colts moved their annual summer training camp to the park in 2018.
The Westfield Redevelopment Commission released a request for proposals in March 2022 seeking a new owner or operator of the sports campus and events center.
The city announced in September 2022 that seven proposals were under consideration. At that time, the city was trying to determine if it would sell Grand Park or operate it through a public-private partnership.
The city initially considered selling Grand Park. In its request for proposals, Westfield valued Grand Park at just less than $204 million. In March 2023, Westfield announced the city would not sell the sports campus. And in December 2023, Westfield selected Grand Park Sports & Entertainment after a five-member committee reviewed proposals for Grand Park.
In June, FIFA selected Grand Park as one of 24 potential locations to serve as a team base camp training site during the group stage—early rounds—of the 48-country World Cup soccer tournament that will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada in June and July 2026.
Indy Eleven’s men’s United Soccer League team practices at Grand Park, and the women’s Indy Eleven USL W League team uses Grand Park Events Center as its home field for games. The club hosts many of its youth soccer programs at Grand Park. Indy Eleven also has plans to construct a club headquarters at Grand Park.
Annual events, such as Indianapolis Colts training camp and the Westfield Rocks the Fourth Independence Day celebration, will continue to take place at Grand Park.
The agreement with Grand Park Sports & Entertainment will continue to allow Westfield residents to receive free admission to youth sports events at Grand Park and provide a continued partnership with Westfield Youth Sports Inc. with an increase in diamond and field usage.