Payton Wells auction set

February 27, 2008
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint
Payton WellsAn auction date has been set for three parcels near Meridian and 16th streets that housed the Payton Wells car dealership. The properties are 2.5 acres with a 50,000-square-foot building, 1.5 acres with a 5,000-square-foot building and a .4-acre parking lot. (Click for a larger image of the map.) Colliers Turley Martin Tucker plans to sell the properties separately at auction on April 3. The dealership closed in early 2007 and has been up for sale for several months. What would you like to see done with these properties?
ADVERTISEMENT
  • God this is such a great opportunity. I hope someone with some vision picks this up. Why isn't the lot on the east side of Meridian part of it, too? Has someone else purchased it?

    Between these lots, the WFYI, and WXIN buildings, this could completely change the prospects of that corridor.

    As a nearby resident, BRING IT ON! And have a vision!
  • Lots of potential for great highdensity development in the area.
  • I live in the building just north of the empty lot on the far right. I'd love to see
    anything commercial go in there, perhaps a grocery store?

    A quick look at o'malias shows that the city can support more of them in the area.
    And I'm not sure if anyone ever goes to the 16th Kroger.
  • I would like to see some art theatres and sex shops move in along with a few massage parlors....
  • Astute observers will note that several adjoining properties are also for sale: the soon-to-be vacated WFYI property on the east side of Meridian south of the Payton Wells used car lot, and the vacant FOX59 and Karstadt-Reed Cleaners buildings adjoining Payton Wells to the south on the west side of Meridian clear back to Illinois. That's a lot of empty space.
  • I totally agree with Greg. Downtown does need another grocery store or Target (what exactly happened with that idea). Maybe a Pier 1, anything that makes more people want to live, work, shop, eat, and just over all enjoy their lives in downtown Indy. We are not Chicago or New York, but let’s build up this city and make it a lot more than just a Monday through Friday downtown and get people to have a blast in the city other than just for a sporting event.
  • I lived for over 4 years within walking distance of that Kroger and only went there twice and I drove. My other friends that lived downtown referred to it as the scary Kroger. I did most of my grocery shopping up north at 86th St. I think more commercial in that area would be great. When I lived there there wasn't much around that you really felt safe walking to. I think I went to the I-Hop once or twice. It would be nice to see this area really come back and be vibrant.
  • Cool. And it's good to see Property Lines get clickable links.
  • I agree with Brian. As long as it incorporates something like a Pier 1, I don't care what goes in there.

    Cory, nice touch adding the aerial map with highlights!
  • When do you think IHOP will actually fix their roof?
  • I drive by these locations EVERYDAY and wonder why something hasn't gone in there and if there would be enough parking for a grocery store or a Target. Don't forget the building just south of Payton Wells is also for sale, they have the Oranje thing in there everynow and then but the building is always for sale. My friend, who is filipino, went into the Kroger once, when he lived at 13 and Pennsylvania, the cashier flat out told him I don't think you should come back in here All that was around him were african americans. He went back again about a week later and a different person told him that he shouldn't return. Scary indeed. I like that Ihop, I even like that they have rules when you come in there, but the roof needs fixed. Heres for another Grocery in the AREA!!!! Hopefully.
  • Just to clarify, the Oranje thing was in the Fox 59 building in 2006. Our event, ORANJE (www.oranjeindy.com) has moved buildings every year (this year will be out 7th event and this past year was @ 2323 North Illinois.

    We actually looked at the possibility of doing the event in the Peyton Wells building. It could work. I will keep an eye on how this auction goes.

    (ok....end of self promotion)

    I agree that downtown needs a grocery and a department store (like target) in order to shore up the retail opportunities from downtown residents. I know too many people who live downtown who still drive to Lowes in Glendale and Target in Nora to do their shopping.
  • When I went to Herron all of my friends called that Kroger The Ghetto Kroger.

    As for Richard's request, if you want massage parlor's just up to Carmel.
  • All I want is the first thing who ever gets the property to say is high density mixed-use. PLEASE!!!!
  • JAK, you are forgetting what city we're talking about. This is Indianapolis, where we welcome a Walgreens with a parking lot at the corner of 16 & Meridian.

    Now, if these empty lots were in Carmel (a suburb for heavens sake!), I would be much more confident in an urban, mixed use project built up to the street.
  • JAK, the funny thing is this: if you read the comments above yours, what people are asking for is suburban retail (grocery or Target) with a big parking lot. If you've ever been to the Walgreen's on that corner, it's ALWAYS busy. No one is shunning it because it's in a one-story single-user building with a parking lot around it.
  • I didn't see anyone ask for a parking lot, or anything suburban. They're asking not to have to drive out to the suburbs to do their shopping. The above posters are simply stating the need for retail in that area.
  • High density retail is what we need with apartments on the upper floors!
  • If people have to drive out to the 'burbs, they'll drive to 16th and Meridian, too. Zoning requires 3-4 parking places per 1000 square feet of store. A Super Target is probably 55-60,000 square feet. So it needs a couple of acres of parking.

    Show me some (any) high density retail with apartments on the upper floors anywhere in Metro Indianapolis. Are there apartments over Keystone Square Target in Carmel? On top of Kroger or Marsh in Carmel? Did Kite put apartments over the new Target Glendale or Fresh Market at 54th & College?

    Let's at least be realistic.
  • It's much faster to drive from downtown to the Super Target on Southport Road than to go to Nora.
  • I agree with the earlier posts. We need high density urban development with ground level commercial and residential (rental and OWNER occupied) above the street level. A combination affordable and market rate (the Davlan on Mass Ave) would be a plus.
  • The reality of retail today is that most of us have to drive. I don't like it either. I remember when I could do all my shopping in the Broad Ripple area. We had everything!
    Now, I have to trek to Castleton. It's the same in small towns. There's been a huge consolidation of retail over the last twenty years.
    And the neighborhood only has themselves to blame about Kroger. Kroger has wanted to put in a bigger store, but the neighborhood didn't want the Kroger suburban design.
    There are not enough rooftops to support a Target. Look for a contraction of retail, not an expansion over the next twelve to twenty-four months. Example: the Wal-Mart grocery store is closing at 30th & Post, likely due to all the foreclosures in the area.
  • No the Wal-Mart Grocery is battling marketing issues and competition. My dad is a shareholder in Wal-Mart and they said all of their stand-alone grocery markets are losing money and can't shake the Walmart image of just a big box discount store. It's not because of the foreclosures. This isn't just an Indiana thing for Walmart. I hear the one on South Keystone isn't doing so well either, even with the upgrades.
  • I would really like to see Indy's Midtown develop similar to ATL's with a seperate skyline along Meridian. We already have a great base to start from...maybe a 300-footer of mixed-use with apartment, condo, office and ground floor retail!
  • PLEASE something food related that is not the getto Kroger, smurf-roofed ihop or anything fast food. Perhaps an organic and locally-grown focused shopping area and restaurants that actually supply nutrients and fresh ingredients.
  • Are you all calling the 16th Street Kroger the ghetto Kroger because the majority of shoppers are African-American, or because of the dingy condition of the store. I would hate to think that IBJ web readers believe that shopping in any store with significant numbers of minority shoppers is ghetto
  • Dear Charlie,

    Have you ever shopped in that store? Ghetto is ghetto. It's dirty, the staff is unwelcoming and as a woman, I would get eyeballed and unpleasant remarks made to me. If you would like to verify everyone else's comments, by all means, please stop in there on your way home tonight and report back.
  • As far as the Target/Parking thing goes.. I'm ok with parking as long as it's not a gigantic surface lot.. Having a parking garage or underground parking is always a smart use of land.
  • As loaded as the word is, that's how I've always heard the 16th St Kroger referred to as--The Ghetto Kroger. The others were the Moscow Kroger in Broad Ripple and the Fellini Kroger near Woodruff Place (due to the bizarre mix of customers).
  • OK, I take exception to the Moscow Kroger. That really hasn't been my experience. And it is with affection that we miss our Tar-ghetto.
  • CoryW, the Payton Wells site is zoned C-4 currently, with a max allowed height of 65 feet. The latest Meridian Street plan suggested low-rise (4-7 stories) in that area.

    In that part of town only the Winterhouse and Methodist Tower are as tall as 13 stories, and there is an issue with the Methodist Lifeline air ambulance service for anything over about 150 feet since it needs a clear path to the roof of Methodist Hospital from all directions.
  • All of you people and wanting to drive everywhere. I don’t care how many parking spots a retailer has to have per square footage. What we have to do is get this city of Indianapolis excited to live here. I swear NYC has retail and residential everywhere in about 11 miles. Indianapolis wants to be a downtown of people from Monday morning at 8am until Friday at 5pm. Let’s get employees off work and walking to the grocery and then walking home to their condo or apartment. Let’s live, breath and thrive in the potential that we have. God for bid that 465 is only 3 to 4 lanes each way and not 15 like the majority of Indy wants it to be. Let’s stop driving to Greenwood to work and then driving home to Fishers. Let’s not have the Indy-metro-area be a 50-mile across town adventure and make downtown Indy and die-hard destination to work and live.
  • Bravo Brian! :D
    And that kroger is ghetto. Not because of the large number of african americans and its stupid to assume people to be racist. The place is dirty and unwelcoming.
  • Okay, Brian, I'll help convince everyone of the wisdom of your idea.

    First you need to buy the land at the Payton Wells site for $3-5 million, clean up the site, then come up with a development master plan, and round up developers and financing for the $25-50 million of dense development that would be required to make sense of that kind of land investment.

    Then when you can rent me 1000 sq. ft. for $750 a month or sell it to me for $85K, and I can shop for groceries downstairs, I'll move in and sell my car and ride the bus to work and try to sell everyone I know on doing the same thing. But hurry, 'cause the auction's next month.

    Unless we see $5/gallon gas by then, I think there's little likelihood of my scenario playing out.
  • Benjamin -

    The problem with having a parking garage in that part of town is that pretty much every woman I know (and I may not be representative, of course) would refuse to use it. Parking garages are a good use of space, but unless they are busy, in a very safe location, or heavily staffed, they frighten a lot of people.
  • So surface lots are the pinnacle of public safety? What about all those women shopping at Circle Centre who are parking in the garage?

    I'm pretty sure people get attacked in parking lots and sidewalks as well, are your female friends afraid to leave the house?
  • benjamin, perhaps this comes as a surprise, but women do really look at personal safety much differently than men. It is always a concern, even in places most men wouldn't think twice about being on guard. I think Peter's report is accurate, based on the women I know.
  • Wl-Mart please share with me whatever you're smoking. I live close to the Neighborhood Market on S Keystone. That place is always packed. The recently closed Lo-Bills was a dive and deserved to close. But this Wal-Mart is doing just fine.
  • benjamin, perhaps this comes as a surprise, but women do really look at personal safety much differently than men. It is always a concern, even in places most men wouldn’t think twice about being on guard. I think Peter’s report is accurate, based on the women I know.

    There is no surprise and I'm well aware, but the matter of fact is that women get attacked in parking lots and sidewalks as well and Target hasn't implemented drive-thru shopping yet. I'm all for safety, but I'm also all about reality.
  • Thundermutt, and everyone wondering about parking, a solution for parking in denser urban areas that is commonplace in other cities is the use of rooftop parking, especially for big box type stores like target. In Charlotte a Lowes store was built on a piece of land adjacent to a large historic district as part of a development that included townhomes, and midrise condos and apartments. It really is more realistic than you think. Plus most developers I have talked to recently believe that when the housing market goes back up that downtown development will exploded.
  • Women do look at it differently. Someone may see a parking garage to park their car but I see a dark place for criminals to attack. But that isn't going to stop me from parking there, you just have to prepare yourself which doesn't mean you should buy a gun. But fake talking on the phone, acting confident, etc are real factors to criminals believe it or not. And if you know your going to be attacked, why not do some damage? ;)
    I don't think we should build massive parking lots to avoid attacks by criminals. But parking garages need to be made better. Better lighting, more security, and even security guards on every level. Circle centre feels safer because its busy and the entrance to the mall is right there as well as many security guards.
  • Chain/Corporate stores have formulas that work. They develop stores with this formula. The Wal-Mart grocery stores were a feeble attempt to fill a void of mom & pop markets of which Walmart contributed to creating the voids in the first place. Informed consumers understand when a Walmart squashes mom & pops then tries to act like a mom & pop. eg. SuperValu/Sunflower. If you act like a corporate behemoth, smell like a corporate behemoth, and taste like a corporate behemoth...it doesn't matter that you have jumped on the mom & pop nor organic nor slow food nor green nor whatever band wagon marketing is trying to shove down our throats. What you want is development by local entrepreneurs who have a vested interest in your neighborhood. Target etc aren't coming downtown because these locations don't fit their formula for success. The only reason the re-branded Marsh survives is that there is virtually no competition. Once the Goose and Moody's cannabalize the meat counter that loss leading draw will be gone and with it will go the store.

Post a comment to this blog

COMMENTS POLICY
We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
 
You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
 
Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
 
No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
 
We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
 

Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT
  1. liek the rest of America

  2. These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.

  3. It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.

  4. No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.

  5. whoa!

ADVERTISEMENT