This weekend’s LIV Golf event in Westfield attracted tens of thousands of fans to the Hamilton County city and offered an opportunity to showcase a city in growth mode.
In 2020, Westfield’s population was just over 46,000. Today, it is estimated to be more than 60,000 as a special census is underway.
“When you look at the other cities in Hamilton County, Noblesville, Fishers [and] Carmel, they’ve seen an escalation of population growth in their downtown areas. We’ve actually seen a decline over the last 10 years,” Westfield Mayor Scott Willis told Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “When I became mayor, I really wanted to focus on creating a livable, walkable destination in our downtown area.”
The city says multiple small businesses have opened downtown over the last year, and more are on the way. Since 2024, three mixed-use developments have been announced in the downtown area alone, bringing more than $253 million in investment.
On Thursday, Westfield will break ground on Ambrose on Main. The $27 million project will feature 87 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 6,000 square feet of plaza and courtyard areas, a 2,000-square-foot rooftop patio, 12,000 square feet of commercial space and a restaurant with outdoor seating. The project by Fishers-based Rebar Development will be built at the northeast segment of State Road 32 (Main Street) and East Street.
“We’re spending a lot of time and energy here…but we’ve got more coming. We’re getting ready to unveil probably [in the] next 30 days a new vision for the entire downtown area,” Willis said. “In the past, we weren’t willing to pay for structured parking and infrastructure that lures in those types of development. You need density in your downtown area. You need that walkability, and the city has to bring resources to pull that off. We’re certainly doing that right now.”
Last month, Ed Carpenter Racing announced it plans to relocate its headquarters from the northwest side of Indianapolis to Westfield’s Grand Park Sports Campus, where it is expected to be the first piece of a district planned at the sports complex.
The campus is expected to include a 76,000-square-foot engineering facility, along with office and retail space, south of the Grand Park Event Center and on the west side of Grand Park Boulevard. The facility will feature a public viewing area into the team’s operations, a merchandise store and a Java House coffee shop. The project will also include the construction of the first city-funded parking garage at Grand Park.
Sports tourism is also playing a major role in the city’s economy. The Indianapolis Colts’ training camp just wrapped up at Grand Park, and The Club at Chatham Hills hosted LIV Golf’s only Midwest tournament for three days this past weekend. A LIV spokesperson told the Indianapolis Business Journal that about 50,000 spectators were anticipated.
Indiana Destination Development Corp. Interim CEO Amy Howell told IIB the event will bring in big bucks for Indiana and attracting people to an event could bring future workforce development.
“It’s about bringing people into Indiana—get them to experience things, get them to eat at our restaurants. Maybe they’ll come back go to school, maybe they’ll live here,” Howell said. “It all starts with a visit.”
As of early August, tickets for LIV Indianapolis had been sold to people in 37 states and six countries, but most spectators are expected to travel from around Indiana and surrounding states. The projected economic impact from LIV is around $30 million.
“We’ve got the eyes of the international community on our city for a three-day weekend. This is press and media coverage that you can’t pay for in a city like Westfield,” Willis said. “We’re super excited about what this means for the ID and the brand of our city.”
The deal between LIV and Henke Development, the owner and operator of Chatham Hills, is a one-year contract with LIV having a single-year renewal option for 2026 that Westfield officials anticipate LIV will use.
You can watch our full interview with Howell in the player below.
IBJ reporters Daniel Bradley and Mickey Shuey contributed to this story.