Ball & Biscuit owner planning restaurant in former drag club

The owner of Mass Avenue cocktail bar The Ball & Biscuit, local attorney Trevor Belden, plans to open an all-ages restaurant at the corner of North Talbott Street and 22nd Street in a building that most recently was home to a nightclub known for its drag shows.

Belden, a partner at Faegre Baker Daniels, told IBJ that the Herron-Morton Place project is “still in the planning stages. We don’t have a name yet and have not closed on the purchase of the property.”

But some details are available because the project was presented to the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission earlier this month. The commission approved the development June 6. The Herron-Morton Place Association Inc. also submitted a letter in support of the project. 

The project will include a “family-style full-service restaurant” in an existing building, along with an outdoor patio, fire pit and play area project, representative and attorney Misha Rabinowitch told the IHPC at the June 6 meeting. Rabinowitch is a partner at Wooden McLaughlin LLP.

The now-vacant building is known as the Power building. It formerly housed a grocery store followed by a variety of other businesses, including a thrift shop, cafes and nightclubs. The most recent tenant was the Talbott Street Nightclub, a fixture in the LGBT community known for drag shows. The club closed a year ago after 15 years in business.

Belden and partners will own the restaurant, Rabinowitch told city officials, and Gershman Partners will own and develop the property. 

The project includes all or part of four parcels of land. According to Marion County property records, Power Properties LLC is the current owner of three parcels: the one on which the building sits, and two parcels across the street that serve as parking lots. The parcel directly north of the Power building, which is where the outdoor patio is planned, is owned by Woodland Realty Co. LLC.

Belden opened The Ball & Biscuit at 331 Mass Ave in 2010.