Martindale-Brightwood chosen for Lift Indy development program

The Martindale-Brightwood area of Indianapolis has been chosen for a city program that infuses federal community development funds into a neighborhood for a period of three years to propel revitalization.

The neighborhood was the second chosen for the Lift Indy program this year, the city said Thursday, joining the so-called “Near North Corridor,” which was previously announced.

For the first time since the program’s launch in 2017, the city has picked two neighborhoods, due in part to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some neighborhoods.

Each area will receive about $3.5 million in funding over the next three years from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Home Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant program.

The Martindale-Brightwood area is a northeast-side neighborhood founded in the 1870s as two separate settlements. It is bordered on the north by 30th Street; on the east by Sherman Drive; on the south by 21st Street until it meets Massachusetts Avenue and then south on Massachusetts to 10th Street; and on the west by the Conrail tracks.

The Near North Corridor plans to invest Lift Indy funds in the following efforts:

– The Martindale Brightwood Education Zone Housing Village Initiative will be led by the Edna Martin Christian Center and will provide wraparound services and programming, such as employment and career coaching, financial coaching, credit and asset-building programs, and adult education programs.

– The Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corp. will lead a homeowner repair program to provide long-term residents resources for roofing and gutter repairs; sidewalk, porch, and patio repair; accessibility; siding repair and replacement; window repair and replacement; insulation; HVAC replacement and repair.

– Renew Indianapolis will lead the Edge Fund-Affordable Mortgage Loan Program, which will offer below-market rate mortgage loans for up to 10 low-to moderate income homebuyers in the neighborhood.

– Renew Indianapolis will offer a new construction homeownership program that will create homeownership opportunities for at least 10 low-income households.

Martindale-Brightwood and the Near North Corridor joins three previously designated Lift Indy neighborhoods: Monon16, the Old Southside, and East 10th Street. To identify the Lift Indy areas, the city used data provided by the Reinvestment Fund to identify locations where a multi-year commitment of funding would drive market activity and investment while supporting neighborhood revitalization.

Projects were selected from a pool of applicants and then chosen by a selection committee consisting of leaders from the city, not-for-profit and business communities.