What do you think of the proposed
replacement for a one-story, township-owned structure on Mass Ave? (Click for a larger version.) The $9 million plan, proposed
by Riley Area Development Corp., calls for 25,000 square feet of first-floor retail space, a basement community center and
75 mostly low-income apartments on the upper levels. The project is being designed by locally based A2SO4. Check out an earlier
post on the project here.
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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.
What do you think of the proposed
replacement for a one-story, township-owned structure on Mass Ave? (Click for a larger version.) The $9 million plan, proposed
by Riley Area Development Corp., calls for 25,000 square feet of first-floor retail space, a basement community center and
75 mostly low-income apartments on the upper levels. The project is being designed by locally based A2SO4. Check out an earlier
post on the project here.
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Doug Henning!
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These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html
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Magician and illusionist!
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The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.
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I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?
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I do have one criticism: Using so many colors on the bottom, particularly the purple on the streetlight banners, is very distracting and detracts from the presentation of the building. I understand that they're trying to convey a sense of vibrant street life, but it just comes off as crude. It's hard not to look away remembering only the colored shapes and cars at the bottom.
A green roof never killed anyone though. I do think they should mix up their apartments a bit, some low-income, mid-income, and high-income.
I like this and CAN'T WAIT to see this U/C. The north end of Mass Ave is desperate for new residential and this is a good, solid design by a company that knows what it is doing in terms of providing residential options here. I would like to see more projects like this on Mass Ave, maybe at 5-6 stories. More solid infill residential is needed along Mass Ave to see it reach its fullest potential.
I really hope that the intersection of College and Mass Ave's get more flat-iron shaped buildings to really make that the PREMIERE interesection of the area! Imagine buildings on each corner, instead of the 3 surface lots there now! I would think that a develoer has expressed interest in one of those???
There is no place to park on the Ave! There should not be any further
developement on Mass. Ave. untill this issue is addressed. The city needs to get involved. Try finding a place to park any evening after 6:00PM. The half dozen parking slots shown in the photo are not going
to work.
In any case, it's probably safe to assume ample parking will be provided as a part of this project. Can you imagine the developer not having a parking component, given the guarantee, as always, of neighborhood groups claiming parking/traffic will be an issue. God forbid anyone having to actually walk or ride a bike a block or two to get to their destination.
I completely support additional affordable housing in that area. But would prefer to see a lower proportion of low income units in a single building/concentrated area. If this were 70% market rate, 30% lower income, that would be a better mix. Perhaps it is hyperbole to suggest this would become the next Phoenix Apartments, but the track record of the last 50 years in what happens when you warehouse the poor in high density structures would suggest that's not the way to go.
The structure itself appears surprisingly nice. It is urban in form, appropriately scaled, etc. I'm particular drawn to the horizontal relief on the front facade. Too often buildings like this end up being blank walls, making a street look like an empty canyon. This is particularly true in Indy with its overly strict downtown sign ordinances.
Note the setback on the supper floors, the recessed patio door/balcony areas, the use of multiple textures, a varied cornice line, and the projecting faux awnings. A pure modernist might cringe, but I think this works. (I'd actually go for a hyper-modern structure too, but those tend to be much more difficult to pull off correctly.
The major downside is what would appear to be the sign-band above the first floor. This looks cheesy and reminiscent of a strip mall.
It also remains to be seen how this building appears when seen from other angles. As I've often noted, so often buildings are designed to look good only when seen from the front or photographed from one specific angle.
housing situated in the floors above you? No. Low income housing
is needed downtown, but not above retail space. Just west of this area
you have high end housing. Why would anyone situate low and high
income housing within one block of the other. How about meeting half
way and putting affordable housing units in this building.
Just because people are low-income doesn't mean they're uncivilized. We've all been there at one time or another iat the early stages of our careers.
Some people work downtown, and would like to live there too, but can't because the majority of developments are targeted at the rich. There's nothing wrong with that, but we need some balance if we desire a true urban environment.
So, you really can't assume Section 42 is automatically going to mean incongruous with street level retail and low life tenants, which is the underlying thing some of you are trying to say without saying it...
1) In order to take advantage of certain federal tax incentives and other financing structures a specific minimum percentage of the housing must be low-income. I would guess one or both of these things are being used to actually finance the project.
2) As I stated on the previous post, the two entities mainly concerned with the development, Riley Area and Center Township Trustee, exist for improving access to affordable housing and poor relief.
I think this project will turn out to be really great, especially when the Coca-Cola plant get redeveloped. As for Urbanophile's point about concentrating low income people, I agree. However, I don't really see that a being a significant issue here. The area as a whole has a mix of various housing types and prices, and I don't think that this building will turn into the ghetto or a project. Look at the Davlan and the Rink/Savoy. Both are great affordable housing projects.
I don't think we should stop property values but at the same time its good to at the least have a mix of middle class and upper class.