Two local buyers are angling to revitalize a 15-story downtown landmark
that has confounded redevelopment attempts since its last tenants departed in the late 1990s. Ambrose Property Group and The
Whitsett Group hope to transform the brick and terra-cotta Consolidated Building at 115 N. Pennsylvania St. into 98 apartments
with first-floor retail or restaurant space. The developers plan to invest $16 million to acquire and restore the building,
betting plenty of folks who work in the trio of office buildings steps away from the Consolidated—Chase Tower, Regions
Tower and BMO Plaza—will be eager to live close to work. Ambrose and Whitsett expect to close on the purchase of the
building from an affiliate of New York-based Crown Properties in October and start construction in the spring. The Consolidated
was built in 1910 as an annex to the adjacent Lemcke Building, now home to The National Bank of Indianapolis, and once contained
a vaudeville theater. A seven-story annex was added in 1974. The building’s downfall began in 1992, when anchor tenant
Indiana Insurance vacated 10 floors and moved to the suburbs. The last remaining tenants, Downtown Comics on the first floor
and The Cozy restaurant on the second, departed by 2000. For much more, including how they plan to finance the project and
address the building's lack of parking, read our full story. (Subscription required.)
Photo credit: W. H. Bass Photo Company Collection c/o Indiana Historical Society. Circa 1915.
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