A 1-acre site along the Central Canal will not be developed,
at least for now, a state official said in an e-mail. The state's public finance director, Jennifer Alvey, said the Indiana
Finance Authority no longer is pursuing a development project on the state-owned property, which sits between Ohio and New
York streets across from the Indiana Historical Society. The decision appears to hand a big victory to a small environmental
group bent on saving the unremarkable, grass-covered hillside from development. The land abuts a state parking garage and
was set aside for a future development that would draw retail life to the Canal and more people downtown. The e-mail from
Alvey seemed to pass the decision to the city. "The IFA has determined that a partnership with the City is important to the
future of this site. The City continues to evaluate the current options for the site. The IFA appreciates your concerns related
to this property." Kansas-based LodgeWorks LP pitched a hotel, restaurant and retail project that would include a bridge over
the canal (shown here). Browning Investments and Dora Brothers Hospitality also pitched a hotel and retail space.
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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.
A 1-acre site along the Central Canal will not be developed,
at least for now, a state official said in an e-mail. The state's public finance director, Jennifer Alvey, said the Indiana
Finance Authority no longer is pursuing a development project on the state-owned property, which sits between Ohio and New
York streets across from the Indiana Historical Society. The decision appears to hand a big victory to a small environmental
group bent on saving the unremarkable, grass-covered hillside from development. The land abuts a state parking garage and
was set aside for a future development that would draw retail life to the Canal and more people downtown. The e-mail from
Alvey seemed to pass the decision to the city. "The IFA has determined that a partnership with the City is important to the
future of this site. The City continues to evaluate the current options for the site. The IFA appreciates your concerns related
to this property." Kansas-based LodgeWorks LP pitched a hotel, restaurant and retail project that would include a bridge over
the canal (shown here). Browning Investments and Dora Brothers Hospitality also pitched a hotel and retail space.
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The greenspace argument is so faulty it's not even funny...it's sad. From this site it's necessary to walk only a few blocks up the canal or a few blocks down the canal, or west onto the IUPUI campus or east to the Mall to arrive at inviting, green, underutilized open space.
ugh.
hillside. Sounds like this writer already has an opinion on this decision.
Let's pave every inch of space downtown and build a 16 story,
mixed use, retail/residential structure. That's what downtowns should be.
We don't need green!
Density, absolutely. Can we have a little balance with that.
And please, don't give me the old story about how we have the green
space at the War Memorial.
Twenty years ago when the current city leaders began redeveloping the canal, they envisioned something akin to the RiverWalk in San Antonio. That included hotels flanking the canal and commercial/retail space, not empty useless embankments. As a longtime downtown resident I would like to have a part in this decision rather than it being driven by a group of outspoken suburbanites who long for somewhere free to sit and listen to a concert occurring across the canal. I won't preach to Matthew about the War Memorial, but I will point him one block west on the canal to Military Park, the Indiana State Museum, and Celebration Plaza; all areas providing park like atmoshpheres with plenty of green space.
As thundermutt has accurately pointed out, this property belongs on the Center Township tax rolls. We have spent decades watching our residential tax base flock to the donut counties, we can't afford to push opportunities for quality commercial development out as well.
Clarke Kahlo and his Canal Park Advocates attempt to label this a 'park' by slapping the name of a past president on this embankment is disingenuous. Mayor Ballard needs to obtain feedback from those residing downtown on what they want to see on this property; not the infrequent visitors to Center Township.
I have mixed feelings about this. I live in Bloomington, and I always get excited reading this forum and keeping track of what's going on up in Indy, but when I go, I'm always disappointed. The last time I went to the canal was a beautiful Sunday last summer. Lots of stuff going on downtown, but the canal and the park there were abandoned. My question: is this typical? Is there anything the city can do with this last plot of land that can help change that?
and Matthew, I'm with you. Indy could use a lot more green downtown. There are many cities that have pulled off high-density development and maintained greenspace (e.g. Seattle, Chicago), but not cities that are REALLY comparable to Indy. I would love to see Indy set a trend amongst ~2 million metro/rust-belt/sprawling midwestern cities to improve greenspace downtown, but I'm not sure if this acre plot of grass is the place to start.
It's half destroyed now. Maybe people like watching the historical center for some
reason.
I'd like to see a big screen get put up and watch movies. If they would like to keep
it that is.
Or *not* funny.
its not like this grass hill is a landmark. Give me a break
mixed use, retail/residential structure. That’s what downtowns should be.
As a matter of fact, that pretty much IS what a real downtown is supposed to be, Mathew.
If more of downtown was developed, and more people lived there, and there were more opportunities for shopping/dining/diversity/density, then suddenly the War Memorial greenspace would actually, by necessity, be used for something besides being a big dull traffic median.
Why are Hoosiers so scared?!?
1. To the north, the original terminus of the redeveloped downtown canal, with large gently-sloping grassy spaces and the USS Indianapolis Memorial, and then more canal greenspace up to 11th St.
2. To the west, the greenspace between Michigan and New York streets on the IUPUI campus.
3. To the east, the blocks-long University Park/American Legion Mall area.
4. To the south, the most interesting and active portion of the Canal Walk, including the State Government complex, the Eiteljorg, Medal of Honor Memorial, State Museum, Military Park and White River State Park.
Compared to all those places, it really IS an unremarkable grassy hillside.
HOWEVER, I would like to go on record for how totally uninspiring the Canal has become. Yes, its great to go walk the dog and get pretty views of the City, but as a cultural amenity touted by the City, it is embarassing! There needs to be a reason to go down there or the City's vision will never be realized. Bugg's Temple is a very nice start, but it is just a start. The City needs to wake up and heavily promote the location of restaurants and bars along the Canal or the thing will be nothing but a pretty water attached to a suburban office park.
pretty views of the city?
amenity:
1 a: the quality of being pleasant or agreeable b (1): the attractiveness and
value of real estate or of a residential structure (2): a feature conducive to
such attractiveness and value
If you want great eats, great jazz, respectable retail, high density housing
walk over to Mass Ave. Not every square inch of downtown has to be retail
and something to consume to be of value.
Your amenity--1): the attractiveness and
value of real estate or of a residential structure --has to have value to even be considered as realistic real estate. Any Highest and Best Use Study of this property would prove that this parcel is woefully underutilized at its current status. A park space that increased the value by luring other people to the area would be one thing, but in this case, it requires films and outdoor concerts at the Indiana Historical Society to lure people to the park space. People can consume a park, but at this point it is not a park (and the emptiness of Military park would suggest that very few people are consuming it as well.) It has no intrinsic appeal. This is a major blow to the city that nothing is getting developed on this site--this proposal listed above was particularly promising because it also developed the parking lot on the other side of the site, by the Indiana Historical Society. (Kitschy design, yes, but still a better use of the land.) I hope the optimists such as CoryW are right, because most studies indicate that downtown development is slowing far less during these tough economic times than anywhere else in a metro region.
Clarke Kahlo
Canal Park Advocates
sorry for the typo
Last time we discussed this now-dead proposal someone commented that the psuedo-Venetian aesthetic of the building was somehow appropriate to this site because the canal development was based on Venice. So I started musing on how Indy and Venice could actually be alike: how could Indy go about killing itself by its own beauty? If Venice became OVERLY successful due to being so completely and insanely what it is - a fantasy built on dreams - how can Indy mimic that passion and find its ultimate Indy-ness? An Indy quality so desirable that it would destroy itself?
Unfortunately, I fear that how Indy will kill itself is by its own niceness. Things are nice here, nice as opposed to dramatic, fearless, challenging, risky, etc. Indy is doesn't want to be too densely built-up, or too bold, or too forward-thinking about how a city could consider developing in an uncertain century. We want things to stay the same. And that is how we'll stagnate and become completely irrelevant.
Just some musings too late at night, and inappropriate to a real estate blog, but I wonder where these discussions are happening in this city? Because they need to.