The city of Indianapolis is making plans to demolish a major eyesore near the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Reggie Walton of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development told WTHR-TV the city has plans to tear down the abandoned Keystone Towers complex at Allisonville Road and Fall Creek Parkway and seek proposals for redevelopment.

The complex a few blocks northeast of the fairgrounds has been empty for several years and has become a haven for squatters and drug dealers.

The Marion County Commissioners granted the city ownership last week after the previous owner, North Carolina-based Southeastern Partners Inc., missed a deadline to pay more than a half-million dollars in back taxes and penalties.

The 15-story building  has been largely vacant since 2001, when previous owners defaulted on the mortgage and the property was sold at a sheriff's sale. Since then, efforts to revive it by various owners have failed.

The complex, built by local developer George Ginger in 1974 as the VIP Center, originally included apartment and office components and was intended to be a crown jewel on the midtown Keystone Avenue corridor. However, leasing problems hampered the project from the beginning and the office space was eventually converted into apartments.