Six groups are vying to lead a redevelopment effort for the struggling Indianapolis City Market. (Reporter Peter
Schnitzler has all the details here.) Here's a summary of the possibilities:
- The not-for-profit Riley Area Development Corp. has proposed a new Performing Arts Center and affordable housing complex for artists on the east and west wing sites. Riley’s proposal, which would include collaboration with the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, also includes non-binding memorandums of understanding from 21 local arts organizations that expressed interest in the project.
- Chicago-based real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle seeks to expand the scope of City Market’s redevelopment, proposing a larger-scale project that would include a five-level parking deck to the north, the vacant Market Square Arena site and the Old City Hall at 202 N. Alabama. Jones envisions a three- to five-year process exploring plans to create what it calls a “festival retail food destination” at City Market. The company also suggests adding national chain restaurants such as Olive Garden or Ram Brew Pub to the current mix of local vendors. It also would investigate refurbishing the City Market’s 20,000-square-foot basement catacombs as a restaurant and building a 200-room hotel with ballrooms and conference rooms on the MSA site.
- Columbus, Ohio-based planning firm Kinzelman Kline Gossman proposes replacing the market’s wings with mixed-use “green” buildings and an outdoor performance venue, with a bike hub/shop, a "green” grocer, a microbrewery and wine bar. Kinzelman would tear down both wings. On the west side, it would build a three- to four-story building with a ground-floor retail or food anchor. On the east side, it proposes a public plaza with an 8,000-square-foot bicycle hub facility connected to the Cultural Trail.
- St. Louis-based developer McCormack Baron Salazar points out in its RFI response that “a comprehensive development plan is not realistic at this point.” It broadly wants to build a “Best of Indiana” market and establish the Indiana Center for Sustainable Agriculture, with room for a “small, highly adaptable black-box theater and/or cabaret studio space.” It proposal aims for energy savings from new window and insulation technologies and solar energy systems.
- Locally based architecture firm Rowland Design proposes a number of ideas for reusing the east and west Wings. Options include a public health facility in partnership with the IUPUI College of Public Health offering medical screenings and tests, a fitness center that transforms the historic central hall’s mezzanine into a year-round jogging track, a culinary school, and a pair of educational wellness centers focused on Indiana’s professional sports and Hoosier children.
- Locally based Tabbert Hahn Ping Global Strategies proposed an entertainment venue with a connected restaurant or bar that would seat 1,500 and host four or five shows weekly.
Which would you pick?
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City market will not take off until the MSA property is developed.
The City Market should remain a market. The biggest problem with the Market is that they do little to no advertising of it. How many ads have you seen anywhere downtown where conventioners or tourists are out walking around that tout The City Market? I know when I'm in a different city, I seek out the local flavor if I know where to go. I made a point of visiting the Reading Terminal Market in Philly because I saw it advertised, which is an example of what our market should be. Also, how about a free or cheap trolley of some kind to ferry people over there from near the convention center. It can be a cold walk in the winter from further areas of downtown. There is no parking, so why not offer public transportation?
I would hate to see any of those "expert" suggestions listed above come to fruition. Don't let City Market die!
Please do NOT put an Olive Garden in there, it will fail and we'll have to start all over.
You do realize that the City Market will remain just that, a City Market. The proposals are for the modern east and west wings which have no historical significance and have overall probably hurt the market by letting it spread out too much.
Read the Peter Schnitzler article that is linked. Here is the opening sentence and I think it clears up any confusion.
"Six business groups are vying for Mayor Greg Ballards approval to redevelop the antiquated wings of the historic Indianapolis City Market. "
They are not affecting the Central building which is the historic Market building.
Winter market works. Outdoor summer market works. The various markets in parking lots and parks work. People don't like the atmosphere. You're surrounded by crappy lunch places.
And people love that area. People love all of over the rhine. Its not chuck full of cookie cutter, cheesy, four-story new urbanist boredom like MSA is.
There isn't a public-market tradition in Indianapolis or Indiana, and we can't just create one out of thin air.
It's frustrating that people often think that parking in downtown Indy is tough, when in fact it's always possible-it's just that they want it for free, preferably less than 100 feet from their destination. In other words, they don't want a downtown at all.
Does it matter that the market is enclosed in:
CCB
Two wings of stinky, greasy, obesity shops
A sea of gravel
Rather dull office buildings
Not commenting on any individual proposal, I do believe that adding some other offerings that those above into the mix may increase the overall appeal of the spot.
Indianapolis did have a public market tradition--the City Market is one of the oldest standing buildings of its kind--but it devolved as the downtown lost its pre-eminence as a central shopping destination. It's been nothing more than a spread-out food court for decades and the ridiculous amount of seating encourages a food court ambiance. Good food vendors (like Goose the Market) rejected the place because it lacks vibrance; others (like Moody Meats) gave up on it; still others (like Constantino's) couldn't reach a suitable leasing agreement.
Something about the way the space is organized these days makes it consistently unappealing to both vendors and customers. Downtown already has plenty of fast-food places and food courts where, quite frankly, the atmosphere appears brighter and better maintained.
But I agree with LongTimeIndyRes: the central hall should remain a market.
City Market needs to decide what it is and stick to it. I mean how many thousands of people work within 2 blocks of it? How many thousands live within 6 blocks of it? It just needs to come up with a vision and stick to it.
http://www.nuvo.net/opinion/article/city-market-masterstroke
And Indyman...the 70's are ancient history, even for an aging boomer like me: there is no current and uninterrupted tradition (or even one that can be resurrected).
Look, folks, the economic geography of this decade is way different. We can all rant and rave about how the car has destroyed our formerly-dense downtown, but the fact is...that had already happened by the 70's.
American Dirt recently did a long blog piece on Trader's Point Creamery. What it boils down to is that it has a very specific appeal...it is not trying to be everything to everyone. I don't think that vibe can be recaptured in City Market solely as a marketplace.
I think that it would be a vibrant civic asset if it had something close to 24/7 usage, and a mix of performing arts, physical fitness, market, and dining is probably the way to make it a place with a vibe...an experience not to be missed.