Housing pitched for old St. Vincent

January 20, 2009
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Old St. Vincent HospitalIvy Tech Community College is working with private developers on a plan to turn the old St. Vincent Hospital into a housing complex for Ivy Tech and IUPUI students. The deal, if finalized, could save the vacant 1913 building from a wrecking ball. The plans call for a 100-unit apartment complex, ranging from one-bedroom to four-bedroom units, for a total of 250 beds, developed by two companies also involved with the Paramount student housing complex. The developers, Paramount Realty Group and Alboher Development Co. Inc., would get the building on Fall Creek Parkway and a 100-year land lease on the property in exchange for pouring more than $18 million into renovations. Ivy Tech, meanwhile, would consider other land for expansion of its adjacent downtown campus. The full story, reported in last weekend's print edition, is here. Can they pull it off?
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  • AblerockJanuary 20, 2009 10:54 AM
    I don't know if they can pull it off, but thank heaven they came to their senses and are tying to put this nice old building to good use.
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  • DustinJanuary 20, 2009 2:11 PM
    I think they can pull it off, because the building is unique in terms of Indianapolis' historical character. Also, the historical aspect of it will even make the area more admirable for students and tourists, especially the downtown area. I went to this Ivy Tech campus for a short while and I remember driving by the old building daily, it always dissapointed me knowing that the building wasn't being used for anything. I knew that the building was going to be used for apartments sooner or later, it just made so much sense.
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  • ShaneJanuary 20, 2009 2:37 PM
    I agree with Dustin, they should be able to pull it off. Isn't the building already divided into apartments? So there shouldn't have to be too much they would need to do to it structurally. I'm sure they'll have to replace all of the wiring and copper pipes though!
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  • E.January 20, 2009 4:21 PM
    Best of luck to them & President Obama! :)
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  • indymanJanuary 20, 2009 4:24 PM
    Very good idea. It is the best use for that property. The views of downtown from the south side of the building are spectacular.
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  • socrates#1fanJanuary 20, 2009 5:52 PM
    This is an excellent use for the structure.
    If this was downtown I would have more objection.
    If it were downtown it would make a great civic hall or government structure. For it's location this is a perfect function (under the circumstances.) for the beautiful and historic hospital.
    Historic preservation of this structure should have been in mind much earlier. The idea of demolition should have never even been brought to the table.
    It will be a source of local pride and beauty for years to come if preserved.
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  • Concerned ContractorJanuary 21, 2009 2:39 PM
    Great idea for re-use of building. However, how does Paramount Realty think they can assemble $18 million dollars when they cannot pay their contractors over $200,000 to complete payout of Gateway Crossing in McCordsville.
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  • BRoadSeanJanuary 22, 2009 8:14 AM
    Is Paramount out of their league on this one? They've been named in a few contractor tiffs, and they're simply not that big. I wonder what they bring to the table for Alboher...
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  • indyfanJanuary 22, 2009 10:58 AM
    Awesome buildling. I hope the succeed.
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  • Concerned ContractorJanuary 22, 2009 3:49 PM
    I believe the community as a whole wants the building to be reused in some great way.......But the developers proposing and promising great things fall way short on experience and financial capability......
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  • GordoJanuary 23, 2009 11:07 AM
    If one of the most respected multi-family experts in the State says it is a tough project to justify. Sorry folks, I see a repeat of MSA. Particularly if the widely held of this developer is accurate.

    Moreover, it would seem that losing this building will kill Ivy Tech's expansion plans.

    In hindsight, perhaps what created the biggest challenge for this building was transforming it into subsidised housing a few years ago.
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  • thundermuttJanuary 23, 2009 4:05 PM
    It won't hurt Ivy Tech to build 3-4 story buildings with integrated parking, or to build an actual urban campus instead of a suburban one.

    The biggest obstacle to their expansion is the shrinking state budget.
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  1. First, the Athenaeum is going to have to get past the hurdle with the Lockerbie residents and the agreement that the parcel would be residential. Second, and in my opinion, this prime piece of property should include parking, PLUS, a black box theater(s), some market rate and affordable artist housing and a plan to renovate and reconfigure the second story theater. I would negotiate to add the DeHaan property surface parking lot into the development mix, place a one story surface parking garage on the DeHaan lot on the street level (for the Dehaan tenants use during the daytime) and add a second story to the garage that would become an addition to the current second story theater and then change the direction of the theater by moving the stage across the alley and on top of the DeHaan lot parking. You can add all the stage elements that are currently missing from the Athenaeum stage to make it more attractive for use by Ballet, Opera and traveling productions. Plus, the theater changes would probably help solve some of the soundproofing issues. Alas,it does not seem to be a part of the strategic plan to conduct a study to determine best use of the property. Seems like the current plan is a quick and easy move that ignores the property best use/potential and any strategic property planning for the effect on future generations.

  2. I recall that MSA's pilings are still in the ground and hard to remove. It’s not likely any proposal will include significant underground construction/parking because of this. Start adding 2 floors of retail, 8 floors of parking and 5-10 floors of possible hotel, and/or 10-20 floors of residential, and you are at 30 floors already with possible expansion of all the uses. But then again I could be wrong.

  3. Accoriding to their website there is no deadline to the Do Not Call list. What is this article referring to??

  4. On what planet are they entitled to this largesse from the stockholders? These people make multi-million dollar salaries: Pay for your own personal travel.

  5. It matters because they're already paid enormously fat salaries: Pay for your own personal travel. Being "taxed on it" isn't a valid excuse--so what? They're still being gifted a raft of luxury perks from somebody else's money on top of an enormous, lavish salary.

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