Out with the fitness, in with the stuffed breadsticks.
Kilroy's Bar n' Grill has applied for zoning approval to take over the Broad Ripple building occupied by Cardinal
Fitness. 
The plans call for the restaurant and bar to take the entire 7,750-square-foot building at 831 Broad
Ripple Ave. Kilroy's would convert a parking lot between the building and a Jimmy John's sandwich shop into a 4,800-square-foot
outdoor seating area, complete with a fire pit. The Broad Ripple Village Association is expected to oppose the proposal, but
the group has not yet weighed in formally, said city planner Melanie Mullens. They're wary of another large bar and concerned
the outdoor dining area will remove too many scarce parking spaces. The city's Board of Zoning Appeals was scheduled to
consider the proposal July 19, but that hearing will be continued to Aug. 16, Mullens said. The 1950s building is owned
by BR Associates Inc. of Jasper. Click on either of the renderings for a larger version. What do you think?
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Welcome to Property Lines, Indy's source for neighborhood real estate news. Your host is Scott Olson, IBJ's real estate beat
reporter. Edited by Cory Schouten.
Kilroy's plans new restaurant in prime Broad Ripple spot
July 11, 2011
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It's also across the street from Fogo de Chao and Morton's....
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Yep, the haters are trying to make good news bad. I guess it is hard to get people to believe the series is dying when they are gaining new sponsors.
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David Copperfield! I remember watching his specials on TV when I was little.
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Don't forget this is next to an MMA gym, a pawn shop, and some abandoned spaces.
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Good project for Zionsville - A group who has owned the property for many years has waited and worked patiently to bring highest and best use development to a major corridor, and mix that in with the great downtown you have. Win Win. All the Best to Pittman Partners and Zionsville.
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I'm sure there will also be objections to yet another bar being built in Broad Ripple. Like it or not, that is why people visit and spend money on the strip.
Is Cardinal planning on moving to another location in Broad Ripple or are they moving away from this area of town completely?
Anytime someone wants to come into Broad Ripple and improve an existing building, it should be approved.
Overall, I am leaning toward this new project, just because they are getting rid of the parking lot (and increasing density).
Also, the article mentioned that the BRVA plans to oppose the project based on the loss of parking and its large scale. So, how would the BRVA "sell out?" Unless, you are saying the developer would somehow bribe the BRVA board for its support, I am at a loss for how a neighborhood association would "sell out."
Personally, I believe a building occupied by a tax-paying business is preferable to an empty dump sitting on the market for months, or longer. For several years now, Broad Ripple has been a trendy shopping and dining hub that transforms into a late night party zone. Whatever funky charm it once had disappeared at least 20 years ago. One more bar will do absolutely nothing to alter its character one way or another.
As for the loss of a small parking lot, I say good! A dense urban area needs less parking, not more. The use of public transit and walking should be encouraged over attracting more cars. Nonetheless, the loss of a few spaces will be more than offset by the monster garage that will soon be constructed. So, the loss of the parking lot will have no effect one way or the other--just like the addition of one more bar to the dozens already there will have no effect on the character of the area.
The only definite effect will be the increased tax revenues flowing to local government from a successful bar/restaurant, and that is something both the city and IPS could certainly use.
Scoop: It's just a rendering. That's not the final look of the patio.
Butlerflop: Tru is in a cursed building anyway. Nothing has been successful there in a long time. Yes, the concepts have been bad but no smart operator will go there.
JoeP: Correct. LA fitness has taken all of Cardinal's business anyway. If they were making money, this transition would never even be possible.
Nick: Chain? Kilroy's in Indianapolis is owned by one guy who was raised in Indiana, went to IU and lived many years in Broad Ripple. This is a locally owned business. Two bars by no means makes a chain.
Chris: Absolutely agree. Time to embrace what you are. More people move to Ripple for dining and nightlife than anything else.
In this economy, we shouldn't be against anything that will generate tax revenue and add jobs.
Also, for all of you saying, oh my we are losing parking... we never had the access to those spots for the general public anyway. They were always there for the patrons of Cardinal Fitness. If you broke the rules and parked then when not going to Cardinal, well tough luck. But this is not a loss of parking to the general public, just to the patrons who went there and could only park there. I saw move forward. You all want a village atmosphere, then you need more gathering places outside for winter and summer. This will help address that. It will create a good atmosphere from streetview. Just like driving by La Jolla gets excited to be in Broad Ripple because of all the people outside.
Oh, and I would really love to see further development east of "Thr3e Wise Men" along BRipple Avenue. Hm, maybe retail and housing with a large parking lot hidden behind it would be good.
No, nevermind. We should put a medium-sized parking garage in the worst location possible at College and BRipple Avenue. Can't wait to hear about all the drunks that get hit crossing the streets to get to their cars...
Also, as others have pointed out, the small parking lot on this development site (the site where the bar is proposed) currently can only be used by patrons of the gym and is usually empty, so the loss of it would have little effect on general parking in the neighborhood since it currently serves few people.
This neighborhood is definitely a destination for food/drink and Kilroy's would surely contribute to that reputation. My problem is the type of individual this spot would appeal to: the Kilroy's downtown serves a slightly different demographic than the one(s) in Bloomington. I feel as though this new Kilroy's would be more similar to the Bloomington location than downtown. Do we need another "let's do shots all night" bar in BR? Or would you rather have a place that focuses on food and happens to also serve alcohol? I feel like there are already enough places to get wasted here on the strip. It's a fine line to walk, I realize, but the city is the one with the final say in this: not the neighborhood. I think the city of Indpls will do whatever appeals to its bottom line and, in this case, that's allowing a zoning variance to create a large tax revenue stream. Sorry existing bars...
Also, wasn't the new parking structure designed/proposed to serve existing businesses? How many spots would Kilroy's need to serve their customers? How many spots would their new (smaller) lot allow? The new garage only has 350 spots and I'm pretty sure those will all be spoken for, once the permit parking goes into effect on the residential streets...
I would love to see something more similar to a Binkleys take over the space.
at the same time, if this goes through they'd better bring their A game: the food in Ripple is getting better and better every month!
I'm so looking forward to this Kilroy's so that I can go for my stuffed breadsticks and pink lemonade long island fix without having to drive all the way downtown and try to find non-existent parking due to construction!
From the article you can see that the total square footage that they plan to use is 12,550. At 15 Sq. Feet per person (fire code for a restaurant), thatâs an occupancy of over 800 people. Now I realize that some of that area will be used by kitchen and restrooms, but even if you cut that number in half, there is no way you can safely fit that many more cars in Broad Ripple.
What people don't realize is how saturated Broad Ripple already is. I have many friends who own bars in Broad Ripple. Everybody thinks that they are pulling in money hand over foot. This is simply not the case. If you look back to when Brotherâs was allowed to open, at the same time that the economy tanked, many of the more popular places were one bad snow storm away from being out of business. Luckily Brotherâs became known more for their poor service than anything else, and things leveled back out. If you add another large venue to this market, what will happen? Rather than see one empty space filled, you will eventually see MANY more empty spaces from businesses going under.
If the current bars go under, one of two things will happen. There will either be a high occupancy level in Broad Ripple or their businesses will be bought out by people who donât care about Broad Ripple as a whole. Most of the bar owners that I know either live in Broad Ripple or own property. They run their businesses with the betterment of the area in mind.
That building is not zoned to be a bar right now. It does not need to be a bar. The only people it will benefit are its owners. It will certainly not improve the area. If they do get re-zoning approval without the needed parking, then our city government has failed us once again and should be investigated.
From the City's website:
Variance of development standards of the Commercial Zoning
Ordinance to provide for a bar and grill within 40 feet of a protected
district (100-foot separation required), with 37 parking spaces (119
parking spaces required).
I think this might also require a variance for the amount of outdoor space being too high in relation to square footage of the building.
Quote from Paul: "From the City's website:
Variance of development standards of the Commercial Zoning
Ordinance to provide for a bar and grill within 40 feet of a protected
district (100-foot separation required), with 37 parking spaces (119
parking spaces required)"
As for Kilroy's, Brother's, etc., ruining the old "village vibe" it should be expected. Every cool neighborhood in every city eventually experiences gentrification - both with housing as well as retail/dining. So the "cool" crowd may have to start heading down to SoBro to "keep it real", big deal. There is enough space in broad ripple to make everyone happy (perhaps some density/TOD, and a streetcar line would help).
This is what happens in bigger cities. Atlanta, Chicago, Elletsville, etc...
I also agree with "Kilroy's Fan" if the owners of dumps like OPTs, Chumleys, Mudsharks, Manshaft, BRT, dont like the new blood coming in, they need to step their game up.
Worries only happen when something is being done wrong.
Broadripple is over crowed with bars and the crime associated with over population of liquor licenses. I have lived in Broadripple over 29 years and we who reside and pay property taxes in Broadripple need to
vigorously stop this.
You live at Chumley's?
For the parking issues... this little lot didn't/won't help. The garage planned for summer 2012 is the only option to help with this. Bloomington successfully solved much of their parking woes with a similar garage on their trendy Walnut street area.