Check out this new rendering of the $33 million
Cosmopolitan on the Canal project. Locally based Flaherty & Collins Properties is building on a site bordered by the canal,
Senate Avenue, Michigan Street and North Street. Plans call for 218 apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail space and a 338-space
parking garage. You can see the planned coffee shop at right. Other targeted retail users include a restaurant and drycleaner.
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Welcome to Property Lines, Indy's source for neighborhood real estate news. Your host is Scott Olson, IBJ's real estate beat
reporter. Edited by Cory Schouten.
Check out this new rendering of the $33 million
Cosmopolitan on the Canal project. Locally based Flaherty & Collins Properties is building on a site bordered by the canal,
Senate Avenue, Michigan Street and North Street. Plans call for 218 apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail space and a 338-space
parking garage. You can see the planned coffee shop at right. Other targeted retail users include a restaurant and drycleaner.
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If a television station wants to improve viewership, get rid of the local blackout. I was born by the brickyard, and have attended 15 or more races. I have children now, I won't attend unless circumstances are perfect. As those with growing families know, they never are. I'm always impressed that upwards of 250,000 people attend the 500. However, as a growing, or, more apt, sprawling city, Indianapolis and its immediate suburbs count almost 2.2 million. Show the race live, let the venue get a kick-back on revenues, and open-wheel racing might have a fighting chance to be relevant again. Just in time for those tax-payer lights to make sense.
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John Moore, I too have had the same issue recently. A property next to my house was on the Land Bank and I was interested in purchasing. When I tried to contact Reggie, I got back emails that had nothing to do with what I asked about. Actually my latest response from him was on this past Friday. I had asked about how to buy the property and if it was still available. His response to me was to contact the mayor's office to get the schedule of his appearances. (???) Hopefully the city is able to do something to fix what this guy has done, it would be nice if they would take the properties back and sell them properly so land owners like me and you mother would have a fair chance.
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I too work in the industry, with over 25 years of experience and your political spin has probably nothing to do with any rebranding. "Let's dress it up" would have nothing to do with the government "telling us how and what to eat." Give it a political rest. And being a producer for a radio show doesn't mean you've been involved in advertising and branding for 30 years.
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Ms. Morris did not understand the ways of the business world, otherwise, like the IMS, she could have petitioned the State Legislature for a handout of State Funds for her charity work. Ms. Morris should consider becoming a state lobbyist for Lemonade Stand Operators.
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David Copperfield!
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It's not my personal favorite style, but I agree, it's good infill. It looks classy and conservative. I like the brick color. I hope it's that dark and burgundy in reality.
I also applaud the developer's inclusion of public parking for the canal, which is a no-brainer-of-an-idea that seems to have been lost on every other canal developer until now.
When is this project due for occupancy?
The basic configuration of residential and retail or commercial wrapping (and hiding) a central parking garage is an excellent model for the sort of 3-7 story urban infill that we need to replace all those surface parking lots downtown.
The retail side is slightly more up in the air, but I'm pretty confident that it will work. The residential density in a two block radius from this site is probably the highest in downtown and will only get higher if Paramount Tower gets off the ground. As long as the retail uses are geared toward the predominantly student and young professional population in the area, they shouldn't have any problems.
The fact that Canal lacks retail and sees only limited use (comparatively) is a direct result of the low quality development that basically saw much of the Canal turned into little more than a suburban office park amenity like those fountainty things you see in retaining ponds up north. I still can't get over that the parking lots are all off limits even on weekends, particularly when all of those buildings received big city subsidies. The newer apartments are likewise basically a suburban model plopped downtown. It should be no surprise what the end result was.
Two thoughts: First, the materials are going to be critical. If they can buck the canal apartment trend of using faux stucco (“EIFSâ€) and low-end masonry (homebuilder-grade brick and split-face concrete blocks), and instead use a commercial grade (maybe an “iron spotâ€) brick and ground/polished blocks or natural stone, this could be a slick model for other urban infill apartments. From the landlord’s perspective, I would expect low-maintenance and longevity from the materials to be mandatory, but this concept has eluded some of the early canal apartment builders.
Second, the retail is great and sorely needed, but it seems a little minimized. I understand that the residents need access to the canal via the stair, but I wonder if more canal level retail could still be squeezed in on the north side. Some banners/flags and awnings could help create a sense of place around the storefronts and liven up the area. Creative lighting is also an option, and let’s all hope that the landlord controls the tenant signage as well as he/she controls the architectural look (no back-lit Plexiglas box signs or electronic variable message signs).
Overall, I think this is one of the better schemes that have been proposed for the canal over the past few years.
That the Cosmopolitan is a considerably better development than Canal Square Apartments is evidence of progress.
I also think this scale of development is mostly what is needed downtown. This isn't NYC, and high rises traditionally haven't worked well for a variety of reasons I don't have time to type now.
I do think high rise development with very high density would be appropriate in select spots. The MSA site is one of them, since something major is needed to bridge the gap between the Warehouse District and Mass Ave. The Pan Am Plaza site might be another. A few of the vacant lots NW of the AUL Tower might also fit the bill.
But for the most part, the Cosmopolitan is a good scale of development, along with mid-rise structures such as 707 E. North St.
The City needs to really push restaurants and bars. The office space that is centered around the hotels, just north of Ohio Street where the Canal widens, has great opportunities for drinking places.