Touring the JW Marriott complex

May 12, 2009
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JW Marriott complexThe developers of the new JW Marriott hotel complex gave photographer Robin Jerstad and me a tour of the $425 million project earlier this month. They say construction is on schedule and coming in under budget. Check out JW Marriott complexa photo gallery from the tour of the four-hotel complex here. A couple of new details we picked up about the 1,623-room facility: The 34-story flagship JW Marriott hotel will feature a farm-to-table Italian restaurant and an upscale sports bar called High Velocity. It also will feature a Hertz rental car outlet. Developer White Lodging, which is partnering with REI Investments on the project, is self-financing the JW Marriott portion of the project but secured bank financing for the other hotels.

Check it out: In the next few days, workers will be placing massive trusses for what will be the largest hotel ballroom in the Midwest, at 40,500 square feet.
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  • George OrwellMay 12, 2009 10:28 AM
    Nice work Cory. Like I mentioned months ago, this thing will be up and running and the old INB tower will still have exterior panelling to be hung.
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  • DJMay 12, 2009 10:56 AM
    Is it my imagination, or are they really using those butt-ugly blue glass panels for the exterior? In person, it looks nothing like the original rendering of highly reflective colored panels. I thought it would look more like the glass panels used in Allen Plaza (Scotty's building).
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  • cschoutenMay 12, 2009 11:32 AM
    One of the early renderings showed multi-colored glass panels. See here. But they later changed to all blue glass. You can see a more recent rendering here. You can also see how the blue will look in a video here.
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  • E.May 12, 2009 11:36 AM
    I personally find the all-blue look much more attractive and will look less dated in the future.
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  • DDMay 12, 2009 12:20 PM
    I like the old multicolored better, but I'm sure budget prevailed...It will look good either way
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  • CreamCrimsonMay 12, 2009 12:22 PM
    Didn't know this, but the JW Marriott will be the largest Marriott Hotel in the nation. That's pretty impressive for a hotel chain of that size.

    Looks like a solid project. 34 floors is no joke. Hopefully one day those guests staying in the Southern Facing Rooms have something other than a giant Power Plant to look at. If I were Marriott, I'd encourage Indy to wrap or facade those smoke stacks. That is a hideous view. You've got a really cool view of Victory Field and then... wham! A giant set of smoke stacks, kind of hard to ignore that. Other than that, looks great.

    If they could get a project going at the Market Square sight that would bookend Indy's Skyline nicely with the JW too.
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  • For Cryin OutloudMay 12, 2009 12:29 PM
    This project will be up and running in time for the super bowl which is good news. But will Lucas Stadium be in receivership .... For Cryin out Loud
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  • RobMay 12, 2009 12:45 PM
    A 34 story building is impressive. Can anyone tell me how tall the One America building or the Chase tower are, just to get an idea of the size of this? Working on the southeast side of downtown it is nice to see this structure popping up above the other structures on the west side of downtown.
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  • E.May 12, 2009 12:54 PM
    I believe the Chase Tower is 48 stories, while the One America is like 38. Keep in mind these are office towers which typically have higher floor-to-ceiling heights than hotels such as the JW do.
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  • shaneryan1981May 12, 2009 12:56 PM
    The Chase tower is 48 stories I believe.
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  • MarkMay 12, 2009 12:56 PM
    What happened to all the Spicy Pickle restaurants in Indy?

    What about Del Taco opening locations here in Indy? Have those been put on hold?

    Any news on Jack in the Box?
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  • NickMay 12, 2009 1:04 PM
    This is a great project. The White family have truly put our city in a new league. Thanks.
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  • LeviMay 12, 2009 2:29 PM
    According to Emporis, the JW will be 115 meters when complete, which will make it the 7th tallest buidling in the city. For reference, that's just behind the M&I Building (122m) and just taller than City County (113m).
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  • KanyeMay 12, 2009 3:36 PM
    Will any of the restaurants serve fish sticks?
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  • JustinMay 12, 2009 5:44 PM
    Woot! Very nice and exciting. On a side note I hear Firehouse Subs will be opening Indy Locations!! I just moved back from Florida and I love them!
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  • dps dudeMay 12, 2009 10:03 PM
    One note on aesthetics. To my knowledge, there is not a lot of color in the architecture of downtown Indianapolis. Browns, tans, off whites - yes. But no blue. And with this building literally at the west end of the city it will stand out. This building will have people talking about it's color, size - and the unique look to the city's urban topography.
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  • KathyMay 13, 2009 1:45 AM
    Has anyone heard anything about projects like SoDo? The last time I heard anything was when we found out that Indy will be hosting the Super Bowl. I read that SoDo will be finished by the time we have the Super Bowl here. I was wondering since the economy has had such a down turn if this is still true.
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  • Da HooeyMay 13, 2009 7:56 AM
    To answer all those questions: Go ask your bankers what they did with their bailout money. Wasn't that supposed to free up lending?


    Glendale: Still lots of empty space.
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  • thundermuttMay 13, 2009 8:31 AM
    dps dude: the new skin on the old INB tower downtown is blue.
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  • shaneryan1981May 13, 2009 8:34 AM
    Wouldn't it be nice for the state to sell the parking garage/empty space across the street from the JW Marriott? They could surely rebuild a parking garage in one of the empty lots the state owns just north of the state house. That space could be used for a future convention center expansion or perhaps a mixed use office tower/hotel/apartment building. Wishful thinking I know.......
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  • CrystalMay 13, 2009 9:32 AM
    When will the Friday's reopen at this location.? We missed last year while at the indian market.
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  • HelpfulMay 13, 2009 1:22 PM
    The Friday's is not scheduled to reopen until the other hotels on the site are completed.
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  • CoryWMay 13, 2009 2:30 PM
    Friday's, really? You can buy their stuff in your local market in the freezer section.

    I must say, this project is shaping up much better than I had thought it would. It really will add a lot to the skyline and help to add some density on the west side. HOWEVER, the smaller towers are attrocious and should have the cement panels immediately removed and replaced with something different. I would love for the City to full-out ban EIFS and cement panels within the CBD.
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  • Billy BaruleMay 13, 2009 2:35 PM
    Without a downtown TGI Fridays, Indy is just another second-tier city...
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  • Da HooeyMay 13, 2009 4:01 PM
    CoryW: Excellent point. Fridays is like Applebees except, well, except nothing. I cannot believe people eat that crap, unless of course you are stuck in some airport, like I will be tomorrow - I just know it.

    Applebees: You become what you eat!

    :needs more lard:
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  • BoomerMay 19, 2009 1:59 PM
    DaHooey - A little down on Friday's eh? Not sure why. And it's much different than Applebees. Anyway, we should be happy that the JW Marriott is still on its feet with the tight credit market. White's is taking a risk here, and they payoff will be there. Indy keeps getting better before our eyes. And once we clear up this CIB mess, Indy should be good to go for a while. Let the CIB thing linger, and it could spell trouble.
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  1. First, the Athenaeum is going to have to get past the hurdle with the Lockerbie residents and the agreement that the parcel would be residential. Second, and in my opinion, this prime piece of property should include parking, PLUS, a black box theater(s), some market rate and affordable artist housing and a plan to renovate and reconfigure the second story theater. I would negotiate to add the DeHaan property surface parking lot into the development mix, place a one story surface parking garage on the DeHaan lot on the street level (for the Dehaan tenants use during the daytime) and add a second story to the garage that would become an addition to the current second story theater and then change the direction of the theater by moving the stage across the alley and on top of the DeHaan lot parking. You can add all the stage elements that are currently missing from the Athenaeum stage to make it more attractive for use by Ballet, Opera and traveling productions. Plus, the theater changes would probably help solve some of the soundproofing issues. Alas,it does not seem to be a part of the strategic plan to conduct a study to determine best use of the property. Seems like the current plan is a quick and easy move that ignores the property best use/potential and any strategic property planning for the effect on future generations.

  2. I recall that MSA's pilings are still in the ground and hard to remove. It’s not likely any proposal will include significant underground construction/parking because of this. Start adding 2 floors of retail, 8 floors of parking and 5-10 floors of possible hotel, and/or 10-20 floors of residential, and you are at 30 floors already with possible expansion of all the uses. But then again I could be wrong.

  3. Accoriding to their website there is no deadline to the Do Not Call list. What is this article referring to??

  4. On what planet are they entitled to this largesse from the stockholders? These people make multi-million dollar salaries: Pay for your own personal travel.

  5. It matters because they're already paid enormously fat salaries: Pay for your own personal travel. Being "taxed on it" isn't a valid excuse--so what? They're still being gifted a raft of luxury perks from somebody else's money on top of an enormous, lavish salary.

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