Conceptual plan reimagines Washington Square Mall as mixed-use village

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10 Comments

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  1. This input is valuable. But some reality needs pointed out:

    *this landowner is a notorious cheapskate. He hasn’t filled any potholes yet without severe city threats, and he won’t fill any anytime soon.

    *the same landowner barely keeps up his lease obligations with current tenants.

    *the councilor who convened or assisted with this meeting, wants to run for mayor next year, and thinks this meeting can help. He has almost zero influence with the landowner.

    *merging the Kroger parcel with the former mall, is a huge land-use obstacle.

    *the landowner has been illegally storing building materials near an exit driveway on the western edge of the property for years. What makes anyone think he’ll become a responsible landowner anytime soon?

    What kind of tenants will go to a center like this? Not many. Target is holding on by a thread and that Kroger is among the chain’s lower performers. The best re-use is one or two large tenants, and it’ll take tons of city incentives to accomplish that. Healthcare education and government users could provide solid long-term answers.

    A vibrant multi-tenant retail environment is not likely anytime soon.

    1. Agreed. Until the current landowner is bought out, nothing will change. If that Target moves away, that might push things along, as it’s the main reason anyone goes there at all.

  2. This illustrates the weakness of “community planning”. Most of us think of a plan as what professionals call “construction drawings”: something someone has advanced to the building permit stage.

    A community plan is just a collection of things people (who don’t own or control a property) say they want to see. They have no skin in the game other than living within a certain distance. They typically have no experience or expertise in the kinds of developments and businesses they say they want to see. And worst of all, when someone actually builds what they want, they say the prices are too high and don’t support it. (Best example of this is small neighborhood grocers, coffee shops, and restaurants.)

    Kudos to Councilor Hart for pulling together a vision plan, but without some financial and legal muscle behind it (i.e. willingness of the City to declare it a redevelopment district, buy all the parcels through eminent domain, and fund redevelopment) it won’t happen.

    1. The sad part is…the necessary legal and financial tools exist in State redevelopment law and are available to the City today. It’s a hard slog, but it can be done. The tools are rusty.

  3. I’m sure the homeless that live behind the strip mall behind the Speedway across the street would love a new place to hang out. No way this plan ever gets anywhere beyond the planning stage.

  4. No Breaking News here! Although Councilman Paul-Hart has initiated a strong effort to begin the process, as none-zero of his fellow council folks have ever tried or made the effort before.
    The Schmidt concept is exactly that, one concept out of many potential options. If this is the only graphic, it’s proof a community committee has only created an unsubstantiated wish list. Murray is right, BSU rookies could have done it for free.
    Remember Eastgate and Lafayette Sq., bandaids and crutches do not fix the derelict properties.

  5. I just looked at the maps.indy.gov website. It is crazy how chopped up that property is. This is going to be like herding greedy cats. American tax laws reward people that sit on vacant property with write-offs and low taxes, so there is no incentive for any of these people to sell. The only non-surprise is that Target owns the property the Target store is in.

    It’s a wonderful plan but good luck Indy! You’ll need it with this mess.

  6. I sure wouldn’t want to live in one of the townhouses or apartments that back up to mitthoeffer. I think something more like Hamilton Town center is appropriate. People always want these parks and recreational areas but if you’ve seen most of the city parks now the city can’t even maintain those much less keep adding to what they have to deal with. Maybe they could expand the target into a super Target or Kroger could build one of their new Krogers Marketplaces.
    The low income apartments that were built just east of the mall did not help that area at all. I think now they’re 20 years has expired and they are now remodeled and market rate apartments.
    It would be nice to actually have a hotel in that area also. You have to drive quite a ways towards one of the interstate exits to find anywhere to stay if you have out of town guest.

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