Plans are taking shape for a major hotel, residential and restaurant development across from Conseco Fieldhouse. 
South-side developer J. Greg Allen is proposing a project
that would stretch from Maryland Street to Georgia Street along Pennsylvania, incorporating the facade of the Omega Building
(at bottom right of photo), but excluding a small parking lot used by Hampton Inn (at bottom left). The project would feature
two high-rise buildings, of 28 and 17 stories, and include a 240-room Le Meridien hotel, 150-room aloft hotel, 64 condos,
up to six restaurants and a 550-space parking garage. You can read more here. Allen has closed on the property and hopes to begin construction this year. I'll post renderings as
soon as I can get them.
South-side developer J. Greg Allen is proposing a project
that would stretch from Maryland Street to Georgia Street along Pennsylvania, incorporating the facade of the Omega Building
(at bottom right of photo), but excluding a small parking lot used by Hampton Inn (at bottom left). The project would feature
two high-rise buildings, of 28 and 17 stories, and include a 240-room Le Meridien hotel, 150-room aloft hotel, 64 condos,
up to six restaurants and a 550-space parking garage. You can read more here. Allen has closed on the property and hopes to begin construction this year. I'll post renderings as
soon as I can get them.
Back to Top
IBJ Conversations
25 Comments
Add Comment
Now, if all fo this does pan out, WOW! Downtown really is starting to boom with high rises much like it did inthe late 1980's!
I do know that this project has been making the rounds at IHPC for over 2 years! Therefore, I am pretty sure that if there is financing, this will be the final product.
Also, how visible will these buildings be? Will they be visible from the circle?
If only Bart would use a little of the hotel tax to keep the downtown canal clean...we'd have something to show off.
Allen isn't an idiot. Any developer wouldn't simply spend millions to throw up a couple of hotel towers if they didn't think there was any feasibility.
I don't think financing will be an issue at all. Rumor has it there are some pretty big investors on board including the owner of multiple major league teams.
This isn't the Star boards...no need to be so pessimistic. When the Conrad was announced, the same was being said about that brand too. Indy's convention business, once the expansion is completed, will grow exponetionally and the fact that these brands want here, shows this City is getting recognition. Penn Centre has been on the drawing board for a few years. I learned of it at least two years ago and I am confident that Greg Allen wouldn't be going to the press if he didn't have finiancing.
All indications are that they've been working with the IHPC throughout the design process, even conceding to their desire to have the Omega Building facade preserved, so I seriously doubt they're going to be a roadblock.
1) The Indiana Historical Society is not involved in the project. They collect and preserve documents, photos, etc. important to Indiana’s history. This is a great place to do research.
2) There is no such thing as the “IHC.â€
3) The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission (IHPC or “the commissionâ€) is a city agency that reviews architectural proposals and land-use items in select districts. They have an architect on staff and two of the nine commissioners are also architects. Most of this city’s best architecture was lost because the city waited until the 1960s to install a preservation commission and create protected districts.
4) The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (“Landmarksâ€) saves and restores old buildings, and is not involved in this either (yet – let’s see what happens with the “Omega†building). This is one of the best and most effective landmarks foundations in the nation and is used as a model in other states.
I visited the City-County Building and there are drawings for the hotels on file. A preliminary hearing is set for August 1, 2007. The drawings are not much to look at yet, unfortunately.
For the uninitiated, the IHPC has design guidelines within set boundaries called “protected districts†(the hotels are within the Wholesale District and will therefore become “protected†once completed). The commission generally does not permit “faux†historic buildings, unlike in Carmel.
Instead, a new building must represent the “design trends and technology†of the period in which it is built. The explanation I received was so that 100 years from now, observers won’t be confused. This makes sense to me – I wonder what Carmel will look like in 100 years – if any of their fake history is still standing.