May 1, 2006
Peter SchnitzlerTwo new locally based venture capital funds believe Indiana is ripe with opportunity for biotech deals. With $20 million under
management, Heron Capital LLC is broadly focused on the whole Hoosier life sciences market. Attempting to raise $30 million,
the Mid-Point Food & Ag Fund LP has a narrower concentration: high-technology related to farming and nutrition. "We're very
excited about our prospects," said Heron Managing Director Greg Maurer. "We have a number of deals in the hopper, some of
which...
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May 1, 2006
Matthew KishWhen Marsh Supermarkets Inc. put itself on the block in November, the company's stock dove. When it cut future executive compensation
$28 million a month later, the stock continued falling. When it terminated 25 executives and closed two groceries and six
convenience stores, shares slipped yet again. Nothing, it seemed, could stop the downward spiral. Then a footnote appeared
in the Fishersbased company's fiscal third-quarter financial report Feb. 21. It said an appraisal showed the company's real
estate was worth...
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May 1, 2006
Tom MurphyA Cleveland-based technology giant plans to move its Intech Park operation next month, leaving behind some attractive office
space and a broken promise to create jobs. Parker Hannifin Corp. will consolidate its Indianapolis location into a California
site, spokesman Jim Cartwright said. It should empty its 30,700-square-foot offices in the park's Intech 10 building by the
end of June. The move will have no impact on Parker Hannifin's Tell City production facility, which employs about 100 people
who make industrial...
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April 24, 2006
Scott OlsonStephen Zinkan is one persistent fellow. The veteran real estate developer began knocking on the door of Cincinnati-based
The Kroger Co. in the early 1990s, in an attempt to build his firm's portfolio. He and Kelly Flynn had founded Flynn & Zinkan
Realty Co. in the early 1980s and carved a niche developing groceryanchored shopping centers. Amid the rejections, Zinkan,
56, implored Kroger to give him its toughest assignment. The corporation relented and handed him property at 71st Street and...
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April 24, 2006
Matthew KishScholar's Inn bakers load delivery trucks with more than 5,000 loaves of bread each week. And each time head bread baker Jeff
Duez rolls a rack of apricot almond bread out to the loading dock, he ducks his head. A 5-foot-high doorway separates the
bakery's Bloomington kitchen from the ramp where delivery trucks pull up twice daily. That's one of the many inefficiencies
co-owner Lyle Feigenbaum addressed when he purchased a 10,000-squarefoot production facility the company will fire up this...
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April 24, 2006
Scott OlsonIndiana real estate agents and brokers need not venture outside the comforts of their homes to complete continuing-education
requirements, thanks to a rule change allowing providers to offer courses online. Licenses expire every two years, and 16
hours of continuing education must be completed in that span for professionals to remain in good standing. The Indiana Real
Estate Commission adopted the change that took effect April 1. "Rather than having to go to a hotel room or a physical classroom...
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April 24, 2006
Scott OlsonSeveral downtown leasing agents doubt the storm damage incurred at One Indiana Square will have a significant impact on the
tower owners' ability to attract future office tenants. In fact, a few contend their quick response to containing the fallout
from displaced occupants could even make the building more attractive. "There are a lot of people who never have this challenge
put in front of them," said Jeff Harris, president of locally based Meridian Real Estate and a former marketing...
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April 24, 2006
Tracy DonhardtAs the new headquarters building for Simon Property Group Inc. was going up downtown last fall, a group of Indiana University
students donned hard hats and toured the 13-story building. After riding the construction elevator to the top floor, students
got a bird's-eye view of the city and a firsthand account from the developers about the building's cost, size and challenges
in constructing it. The students were members of the IU Real Estate Club, and the tour of the 350,000-square-foot...
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April 24, 2006
On April 14, as part of its Power Breakfast Series, the Indianapolis Business Journal gathered a panel of commercial real
estate and construction experts to discuss industry conditions in the local market. In a discussion moderated by IBJ Editor
Tom Harton, panelists took on a wide range of issues, including tax incentives and the status of downtown's residential and
retail markets. Power Breakfast guests were Mike Curless, executive vice president and principal with Lauth Property Group;
Mike Wells, president of...
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April 24, 2006
Brian MannConstruction costs continue to rise in the wake of hurricanes, tornadoes, the war in Iraq, the building boom in China and
general inflation. The trickle-down effect often lands at the feet of small business owners. According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index, prices for materials and construction components increased 0.3 percent in February,
following a 1-percent hike in January and continuing a threeyear upswing. The average building cost index has increased about
45 percent since 1995,...
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April 17, 2006
Matthew KishThe Lawton, Okla.-based Percussive Arts Society might announce as early as next month that it's moving its 12 headquarters
employees into 15,000 square feet on the troubled fourth floor of Circle Centre mall, according to a source familiar with
the discussion. Roughly 10,000 of those square feet would be a museum that might get bongo enthusiasts and the curious alike
to stop by and check out some Thai button gongs and West African talking drums. If all goes as planned,...
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April 17, 2006
Tom Murphy"They're not the most communicative people in the world, so I don't really have a good reason, other than the fact that I
think at one point they thought they had a group of doctors to operate the clinic with, and it fell through," said Jack Hogan,
a senior vice president for Indianapolis-based Lauth. Forest Health corporate attorney Marie Paratto referred questions to
Laurence H. Lenz Jr., an A bariatric surgery center built for roughly $11 million a couple years...
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April 10, 2006
Della PachecoShakespeare wrote that "all the world's a stage," but when it comes to the competitive home-sales market, one might say all
the world's about staging. Home staging-the process of making a home more appealing to potential buyers-has gained recognition
through popular cable television programs such as "Designed to Sell" and "Sell This House." It can run the gamut from repainting
walls to tearing them down, or from changing window treatments to replacing windows. Interior designer Marion Stewart and
her longtime...
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April 10, 2006
Tom MurphyThe building skeleton planted recently at the corner of 65th Street and Binford Boulevard offers only a hint of the $29 million
medical complex Ken Schmidt wants to grow there. The Indianapolis developer will add four more buildings and a separate pharmacy
to the 17 acres of land he bought several years ago. The end result, he said, will be a medical plaza that offers a unique
blend of services encompassing dental work, radiology and ambulatory surgery, among other specialties....
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April 10, 2006
Matthew KishNorth Carolina-based The Fresh Market Inc. has confirmed it's interested in the former Atlas Supermarket site at 54th Street
and College Avenue. "We are looking at expanding in that area and we're looking at a lot of sites," said spokesman Eric Blaesing.
"[The Atlas site] is one of them." He added that nothing is definite and "for every 100 sites you look at, you end up with
one of them." N e i g h b o r s hope...
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April 10, 2006
Ed CallahanApparently, Dorothy's still right. There is no place like home, particularly if you are a single woman with good credit. Single
women now are significant players in the real estate market. In fact, one out of every five homebuyers nationwide in 2004
was a single woman-and locally the percentage is even higher. According to a 2004 study by the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board
of Realtors, almost 25 percent of homebuyers in the area were single women. The national figure, compiled by...
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April 3, 2006
Tammy LieberOne of the biggest owners of Indianapolis apartment complexes will soon be all but erased from the landscape, as Chicago-based
Amli Residential Properties LP prepares to sell six of its seven properties. Two of the complexes, Amli at Lake Clearwater
and Amli at Castle Creek, have already traded hands. Louisville-based NTS Realty Holdings LP in late March purchased both
properties for $50 million, a slight discount from Amli's asking price. Amli at Old Town Carmel, a mixed-use project that
includes...
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April 3, 2006
Scott OlsonIndiana Avenue looks for revival Cultural plan stresses retail, residential growth, and a possible extension Indiana Avenue's
glory days as a haven for black-owned businesses and vibrant nightclubs exists only in the history books. But a plan to revitalize
the city's newest cultural district could restore some of the luster. City leaders completed the blueprint for redevelopment
early this year and now are in the early stages of executing a plan that organizers say could take 20 years to play...
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April 3, 2006
Greg AndrewsA development team this week plans to submit a proposal to the city to build a $250 million, 1,350-room hotel complex downtown
on a site where a 235-room Courtyard by Marriott now stands. The project, just south of the entrance to White River State
Park, would include a convention hotel with ballrooms; three smaller, more limited-service hotels; an indoor water park; and
a 1,200-space underground parking garage. At 800 rooms, the convention hotel by itself would rank as the city's...
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April 3, 2006
Matthew KishNational City Center and anchor tenant Hyatt Regency Indianapolis plan to pump more than $11 million into the aging, 16-story
building to boost its competitiveness with other downtown towers. The plans might grow to include connecting the building
to the Artsgarden at the corner of Washington and Illinois streets. The Hyatt Regency, which occupies a wing of the National
City Center, plans an $8.5 million renovation that will include the addition of 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a Starbucks...
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April 3, 2006
Tammy LieberIt's called Lilly Valley for a reason. The official name of the modest neighborhood on the near-southwest side is Little Valley,
but many people call it by the name of the pharmaceutical giant looming nearby. Eli Lilly and Co. has been gnawing away at
the neighborhood south of Morris Street for several years to accommodate expansion at Lilly Technology Center just to the
west along Kentucky Avenue. Now, Lilly is seeking city approval to take over more of the neighborhood,...
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March 27, 2006
Tom MurphyChris Hamm's phone started buzzing with calls from health care developers once plans for an extension of 146th Street east
to Interstate 69 crystallized a couple years ago. The Noblesville economic development director said several organizations
have shown "significant interest" in planting health care businesses along 146th Street, which will see a big boost in traffic
once workers complete the interstate connection in the fall of 2007. At least three health-care-related deals are in the works,
he added, declining to...
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March 27, 2006
Tammy LieberThe site of the former Olin Brass factory on the near-west side might soon roar to life again if a plan to erect a metal recycling
operation there comes through. A joint venture between Fort Waynebased Steel Dynamics Inc., Chicagobased Metal Management
Inc. and local hauler Ray's Trash is seeking city approval to install a metal shredder and recycling operation on about 40
acres at Holt Road and Airport Expressway. The venture, called Metal Dynamics LLC, would accept scrap metal...
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March 27, 2006
Don AltemeyerAnalysts say the housing market is slowing in Indianapolis and across the nation. Perhaps that's why three significant, real
estate developments have attracted so much local media coverage recently. In one story, the City-County Council approved the
development of 28 condos in Broad Ripple, despite strong resistance from the neighborhood association. Meanwhile, local planning
councils easily approved two new developments-a subdivision on the far northeast side of town that will feature almost 2,000
homes and a large condominium complex in...
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March 27, 2006
Greg AndrewsN o r t h - s i d e r s aren't alone in eagerly awaiting Glendale Mall's redevelopment plan. Wall Street is watching what
happens next, too. Glendale is the largest of the 40 retail properties Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Trust operates.
The North Keystone Avenue shopping mall collects annual rent of $2.5 million, representing more than 4 percent of the company's
total. So what Kite will do with the ailing, 724,000-square-foot property was topic No. 1 last...
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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.