Grant Street Inn expansion goes to plan commission Monday

September 15th, 2011

Grant Street Inn expansion goes to plan commission Monday

By Rebecca Troyer 331-4243 | rtroyer@heraldt.com

September 9, 2011

For 20 years, the 24-room Grant Street Inn, 310 N. Grant St., has served as a popular bed and breakfast stopover for university guests, business travelers and Indiana University parents. If zoning approval is granted this month, the inn will be expanding across the street, adding 16 more rooms and a fitness facility.

CFC owns the lots at 315, 317 and 319 N. Grant St. and is seeking use variances to allow for a hotel/motel within a residential multi-family zoning district and multiple setback variances. The plan commission will hear the petition at its 5:30 meeting Monday.

Originally built in the 1890s by William P. Rogers at the corner of Seventh and Lincoln Streets as a wedding gift, the historic house was moved to its current site and restored by Bill and Gayle Cook, founders of the Cook Group companies. CFC Properties, Cook’s real estate and restoration company, had acquired it from the First Presbyterian Church when the church sought to expand on the original site at Seventh and Lincoln.

The new buildings will be fashioned in the style of the existing historic home, with wrap-around porches and turn-of-the-century architectural features. Jim Murphy, CFC’s president, said the plans have already been discussed with the Northeast Neighborhood Association, and approvals have been obtained from the department of public works and the Historic Preservation Commission.

“We plan to start construction this fall, and our goal is to have it completed by graduation (in May 2012),” Murphy said.