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Real Estate & Retail
City picks Marriott, passes on Pan Am plan:
January 1, 2007
-Cory SchoutenA willingness to redesign and add rooms to its proposed JW Marriott hotel helped push locally based REI Real Estate Services
and its partner over the top in their quest to build a convention headquarters hotel. The team of REI and Merrillville-based
White Lodging Services Corp. proposed building an 800-room JW Marriott as the centerpiece of a 1,500-room, five-hotel complex
at the site of the existing Courtyard by Marriott hotel at West and Washington streets. A city committee charged with...
MoreCHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: IBJ has big plans for coming year
December 25, 2006
This has been a strong year for your local business weekly. We take seriously our mission of providing readers with the best,
most in-depth coverage of local business, so it is with a sense of both pride and gratitude that I report on our most successful
year ever. Editor Tom Harton has called 2006 the Year of the Award. This year, IBJ won 18 news awards-eight of them gold-from
three different organizations. Our coverage was recognized nine times by our...
MoreVerizon amphitheater might be redeveloped
December 25, 2006
Cory SchoutenThe potential redevelopment of Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville could open the door for a new concert venue in
Indianapolis, but industry veterans don't expect it would look anything like the popular Hamilton County amphitheater.
MoreRandy's Toy Shop breathes life into ailing play things
December 18, 2006
Anthony SchoettleRandy Ibey, owner of Randy's Toy Shop in Noblesville, is legendary among antique toy collectors and dealers worldwide. Ibey
can fix more kinds of toys than an elf in Santa's workshop--from a German tin soldier created in the 1850s to a remote-control
Pluto made a century later.
MoreNew Nordstrom an obstacle for fragile downtown mall
December 18, 2006
Greg AndrewsWhen Nordstrom in 1992 signed its lease to open in Circle Centre, mall developers extracted an unusual commitment. The Seattle
company agreed not to open another Indianapolis-area store for at least five years. So when Nordstrom last month announced
it will launch a second location here, in The Fashion Mall at Keystone, it caught the attention of Herman Renfro, a former
Simon Property Group Inc. development executive who oversaw Circle Centre.
MoreNOTIONS: Looking in the mirror for Santa and Mrs. Claus
December 11, 2006
Bruce HetrickBruce Hetrick has the week off. Before he left, he updated this column that was first published Dec. 20, 2004. Contrary to
folklore perpetuated each December, Santa and Mrs. Claus don't live at the North Pole. Their heads aren't crowned with thick,
white locks. Their clothes aren't predominantly crimson. And there's no sleigh in the garage, nor reindeer in the stable (in
fact, there's no stable at all.) The Clauses live, instead, on the north side of Indianapolis. As occasional...
MoreHamilton County officials splash cold water on RiverPlace: Upstream trouble on White River could result from adding fill,
overflow channel
December 11, 2006
Chris O\'malleyA government panel is echoing the concerns of the Hoosier Environmental Council that Centre Properties' proposed RiverPlace
development along White River at 96th Street could worsen the effects of a flood. The Hamilton County Drainage Board doesn't
carry the weight of the U.S. Geological Survey, but its opinion could influence the giant, mixed-use project's chances of
winning a rezoning case. A letter the drainage board sent recently to the Fishers planning commission comes just before the
Fishers Town Council considers...
MoreH.H. Gregg betting big on flat screens
December 11, 2006
Cory SchoutenLocally based Gregg Appliances Inc. found itself flat-footed last holiday season when consumers demanded flat-panel TVs. The
popular televisions were in short supply at H.H. Gregg stores. This year, Gregg has bet on a huge selection of flat-panel
TVs to buoy sales.
MoreShoopman ready to build again
December 11, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonPaul Shoopman put 33 years into Dura Builders Inc. before selling his residential construction firm to national player KB
Home Inc. as the local housing market boomed. Two years later, he's getting back into the business even as KB and others retrench.
MoreCanal site picked for $33M project
December 4, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonA local developer plans to build a $33 million, four-story apartment and retail complex on the Central Canal just north of
Michigan Street. Flaherty & Collins Properties has the three-acre parcel under contract from American United Life Insurance
Co.
MoreCrystal Food Services to go national
December 4, 2006
Cory SchoutenCrystal Food Services plans to team with several prominent restaurant chains for a nationwide expansion after severing ties
with Marsh Supermarkets Inc. early next year. The locally based catering and food-service company will report directly to
Florida-based Sun Capital Partners, which acquired Marsh in September.
MoreStarbucks pours it on in Indiana
December 4, 2006
Cory SchoutenOver the last seven years, Starbucks has inundated virtually every corner of the Hoosier landscape. And the company has no
plans to slow down. Several Indiana towns--from Gas City to Angola, Batesville to Bluffton--will get their first Starbucks
in 2007.
MoreCar wash company cleans up: Mike's Express grows by luring loyal clientle
November 27, 2006
Cory SchoutenThe state's best-known car wash company has found a new formula for success it hopes will rival its popular multiwash books:
monthly passes that practically guarantee a permanent shine. Indianapolis-based Mike's Express Carwash already has enrolled
more than 3,000 customers in a monthly membership program, launched in September, that allows unlimited washes in exchange
for a monthly fee. Express wash passes are $39.99 per month, and "Works" passes are $69.99. "It's truly for the person who
always wants a clean...
MoreFaced with competition, record shops look for fresh ways to rock
November 27, 2006
Marc D. AllanMusic CD sales are falling--down 8 percent so far in 2005--while digital downloading of music jumped 163 percent. And nearly
one-third of the nation's record stores have closed in the past three years. Even so, Indianapolis record-store owners say
they've been reasonably successful adapting to a changing marketplace.
MoreComing attraction: Imax theater in Noblesville: Technology lets theaters show Hollywood blockbusters
November 27, 2006
Tammy LieberOnce upon a time not so long ago, Imax films were nearly synonymous with museums. In Indianapolis and elsewhere, the largeformat
movie screens-some as big as the side of an eight-story building-featured 40-minute films that took viewers to exotic places
like outer space or the top of Mount Everest, and were usually attached to educational and cultural institutions. But technology
that debuted in 2002 is bringing Imax screens to suburbia-including to Noblesville in 2008. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Goodrich
Quality Theaters...
MoreBiz park plan west of Plainfield counting on cheaper land
November 27, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonPlans are in place for a 400-acre mixed-use development off Interstate 70 just west of Plainfield--an area quickly becoming
the next big thing in industrial real estate.
MoreCritics question trustee's property portfolio given mission to help needy
November 20, 2006
Tom MurphyCenter Township has real estate holdings worth more than $10 million, according to IBJ research. The township's robust
real estate portfolio—highly unusual for an Indiana township—fits Trustee Carl L. Drummer's vision for his
taxpayer-supported office. But it makes others see red.
MoreBypass too tentative to affect land values, experts say: Property near toll-road exits may be coveted eventually, but uncertain
route should keep speculators at bay for now
November 20, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonWhen Gov. Mitch Daniels unveiled his ambitious but vague plan for an outer loop around more than half of Indianapolis, some
landowners in the potential path panicked while others dreamt of a windfall. But local experts say, until a route is more
defined, neither worry nor anticipation is warranted. "There are so many outstanding issues," said Abbe Hohmann, a land-price
expert for the local office of St. Louisbased Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Hohmann said two types of buyers usually drive...
MoreRETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Big screen? Two screens? Productivity debate goes on
November 13, 2006
Tim AltomApple computer recently announced the results of a study by Paris-based Andreas Pfeiffer, which said buying one of Apple's
$1,999, 30-inch displays would increase productivity of one lucky employee 50 percent to 65 percent, enough to earn back the
cost of the monitor before it dies or is supplanted by one with more pizazz a few years from now. Pfeiffer argues that it
takes a lot of time to switch between windows on a smaller monitor, time that isn't taken...
MoreSmaller sales keep office real estate market humming: A $38 million deal for 3-building complex in Carmel stands out in 2006,
but it wouldn't have last year
November 13, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonA flurry of blockbuster office-building sales in central Indiana last year has led to fewer mega-deals in 2006. A $38 million
sale of a Carmel office complex on Nov. 1, for example, was among the top five such transactions so far this year, but it
paled in comparison to the nine-figure deals that won headlines in 2005. That's to be expected, real estate observers say,
since so much office inventory changed hands recently. And given the new persquare-foot highs set...
MoreNew golf superstore part of retail shakeup: Golfsmith goes head-to-head with Golf Galaxy
November 13, 2006
Cory SchoutenOne of the nation's largest specialty golf retailers, Golfsmith, is preparing to take a swing at the reigning champion of
golf stores in central Indiana. The Austin, Texas-based chain is planning a 28,000-square-foot superstore in space now occupied
by Marshalls in Castleton, less than a sand wedge from fellow category killer Golf Galaxy. The move is part of a major shakeup
in a part of Indianapolis that's long been a headquarters for golf shopping. The arrival of another national heavyweight...
MoreSpeedway's windfall leads to speculation: Questions arise about possible new hotel, turn-two suite upgrades and acquisition
of adjacent land
November 13, 2006
Anthony SchoettleThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway's announcement this month that it would sell its stake in Chicagoland Speedway for $69 million
has racing industry experts wondering if the famed Brickyard is planning an expansion. "There are a number of things [IMS
President] Tony George could use that money for," said Dennis McAlpine, a New York-based financial analyst covering motorsports
and entertainment. "That's not to say he's hurting for cash, but I believe he has projects on his plate." IMS and Daytona
Beach,...
MoreGlendale might become open-air center, gain a Target
November 13, 2006
Cory SchoutenKite Realty Group is in final negotiations to bring Target to Glendale Mall as part of a wholesale redevelopment that could
transform one of the city's first enclosed malls into an open-air shopping center.
MoreGreen roofs slow to take root in Indianapolis area: Despite an array of environmental and other benefits, initial costs and
lack of incentives put lid on their use
November 6, 2006
Jo EllenGreen roofs color the skylines in Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and other North American cities, but Hoosiers have to look
high and low to find similar examples of the plant-filled building tops in Indianapolis. "Most green roofs [in other cities]
are on the tops of existing buildings, where here they are [more likely to be found] above an underground parking garage that
you might not even be aware is there," said Mark Zelonis, director of the gardens and grounds at the...
MoreSome say Wheeler Mission hurts neighborhood's potential
November 6, 2006
Jennifer WhitsonA fall merger of two Indianapolis homeless shelters set off a new round of speculation about whether Wheeler Mission Ministries
Inc. will continue to operate out of its 245 N. Delaware St. location--a stone's throw from multimillion-dollar redevelopment
under way on Massachusetts Avenue.
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I'm sure there are others, but his name automatically came to my mind
Houdini
magician on the court
STEVE MARTIN - funny magic
It has to be Houdini!