Two local developers have submitted bids to redevelop the Ambassador apartments adjacent to the Central Library. Van
Rooy and Buckingham both proposed mixed uses for the Ambassador building, with street-level retail and commercial space and
60 one-bedroom apartment units on the upper floors. Van Rooy wants to buy the building for $1 million and spend another $3.7
million to update interiors and add features such as a business center, fitness room and a movie theater for residents. In
Buckingham’s proposal, the company offers to buy the Ambassador for $865,000 and spend an undisclosed amount to create “high-quality,
market-rate� apartments that would rent from $800 to $1,000 per month. Built in 1924, the Ambassador is on the edge of the
historic St. Joseph neighborhood. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. A key issue will
be parking. To read more about the proposals, including plans for parking, read reporter Chip Cutter's story here.
- Home
- NEWS
- REGIONAL
- THIS WEEK'S PAPER
- BLOGS
- Multimedia
- OPINION
- A&E
- LISTS
- PEOPLE
- EVENTS
- Classifieds
- Subscribe
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.
Two local developers have submitted bids to redevelop the Ambassador apartments adjacent to the Central Library. Van
Rooy and Buckingham both proposed mixed uses for the Ambassador building, with street-level retail and commercial space and
60 one-bedroom apartment units on the upper floors. Van Rooy wants to buy the building for $1 million and spend another $3.7
million to update interiors and add features such as a business center, fitness room and a movie theater for residents. In
Buckingham’s proposal, the company offers to buy the Ambassador for $865,000 and spend an undisclosed amount to create “high-quality,
market-rate� apartments that would rent from $800 to $1,000 per month. Built in 1924, the Ambassador is on the edge of the
historic St. Joseph neighborhood. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. A key issue will
be parking. To read more about the proposals, including plans for parking, read reporter Chip Cutter's story here.
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT
-
First, let me say that I love the idea of communities being self-sufficient and people in the community not needing cars, living, working and shopping all in their neighborhood. To sum it up; I love good urban planning and hate urban sprawl. However, there are two reasons that I am against this development. First, this building doesn't fit. Density can occur in Ripple by building up top the street and better use of land. The scale of this project should be downtown. Secondly, I would be willing to bet that if a whole foods in Ripple is built, the Nora store would be closed. Here's my reasoning. The Nora Whole Foods expansion plans have been put on hold. I'm guessing they are waiting to see what happens with the Ripple proposal. Communities next to each other should work together to end sprawl and not work against each other and take other neighbors assets. Develop something both communities can be proud of and will attract more development and density. There's my soap box for the day.
-
My apologies, Lou - it was the Indy Star that printed cost for entertaining "celebrities" during Indy 500. Sorry for confusing the always timely IBJ with Indy's Gannett reprint news source.
-
That's fine if you want a grocery store that has festivals and live music. I guess with the prices they charge, they can afford to host such activities. As for me, I choose to spend my money more wisely and if I want to go to a festival or a concert, I will pay for that separately - not through my grocery bill.
-
TIF is not just to attract development but to attract a higher use for that development. Carmel wisely is using TIF for numerous public parking garages. Asphalt seas of parking pay little taxes and bring even less value to a commercial area. Also density is what is going to save Indy and Broad Ripple. The days of trying to compete with burbs are long gone.
-
The Prestige was an awesome movie.
ADVERTISEMENT
Back to TopCopyright © All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.
Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing.
Additional Hosting & Delivery by
IBJ Conversations
13 Comments
Add Comment
To comment on the article though, it looks like either proposal will be nice.
Its in a newly birthed area and both proposals are not going for condos. Perhaps the area doesn't necessarily warrant high end apartments, but I'm curious what 'high end' goes for in Indy... $700?
As far as being historic, this building has some great details on it, and one of my favorite arched entrances in the city.
Here are some shots of the Ambassador I took a few months ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ablerock/1289357918/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ablerock/1289355568/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ablerock/1288497449/
If you don't think that's beautiful and worth saving, I can't help you.
The Van Rooy proposal seems more viable to me, as the amenities in the building are necessary to compete with other downtown buildings. Most of the refurbished apartment buildings (Turnverein, Vermont Place, Block, etc.) have exercise rooms at a minimum, and often much more.
Just curious, why is everyone favoring Buckingham? Better plan, or better track record for the company? Van Rooy has done several of these, with good success. Just seems like it is the more viable choice.