Simon-owned company buys downtown parking lot key to city’s MLS aspirations

City officials are considering the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport and adjacent property as a site for a soccer stadium—if Major League Soccer agrees to put a franchise in the city. It’s one of two possible sites under review, city officials said. (IBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)

A company affiliated with the Simon family, owners of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, has paid $10.5 million to acquire a downtown parking lot that Hogsett administration officials have said is key to a site under consideration for a Major League Soccer stadium.

The purchase of the 5.2-acre surface lot at 101 S. Alabama St.—which sits west of the Indianapolis Downtown  Heliport and east of the Virginia Avenue parking garage—was finalized April 29, according to Marion County property records reviewed by IBJ. Phil Bayt, a consultant for the Pacers, confirmed the purchase.

A state sales disclosure form indicates the property was purchased off-market entirely in cash by a company named 101 S. Alabama Development LLC. That company was formed March 11, according to records at the Secretrary of State’s Office.

The property was sold by the LaRosa family, which held the property through JL Parking Associates LLC, for at least a decade.

The mailing address for 101 S. Alabama Development LLC—600 E. 96th St.—is the same as Simon Equity Partners, The Herbert Simon Revocable Trust, the Stephen H Simon Charitable Foundation inc. and Simon Spokenote Investment LLC.

Mayor Joe Hogsett two weeks ago announced that the city was working with an undisclosed ownership group to attract an MLS team to Indianapolis. Administration officials said they are considering two sites for an MLS stadium—one of which is located near the heliport and could incorporate the 101 S. Alabama lot. The Hogsett administration has submitted a plan for a taxing district that would support stadium construction at that site.

Longtime soccer executive Tom Glick is leading the effort to put together an ownership group for an MLS application.

Under the mayor’s plan, the Marion County Capital Improvement Board would own the stadium and the property it sits on. But the city doesn’t currently own any of that land. It has a memorandum of understanding to develop the heliport site, which is owned by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The airport has taken steps to decommission the heliport.

Bayt told IBJ in a statement that the Simon family’s interest in the lot “predated soccer” and that the acquisition is entirely separate from the city’s plans. Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Pacers and the Indiana Fever, has in recent years increased its use of the lot for Gainbridge Fieldhouse-related activities nearby, including parking for staff and television broadcast vehicles.

Bayt said he first approached Denison Parking—which has a contract to manage the lot through the end of this year—in summer 2023 to begin negotiations on a purchase, after learning the property might be available. Those discussions concluded in April with the Simon-affiliate holding company’s purchase of the property.

“The property will continue to be used for parking, Gainbridge Fieldhouse operational uses, and potential future development,” Bayt said.

An undisclosed group has been seeking to acquire properties in the vicinity of the lot for an unidentified project. The Indianapolis office of Cushman & Wakefield has been placing calls and messages to other nearby property owners to inquire about selling their land.

Lena Hackett, who owns the three-story historic building at 10 S. New Jersey St., just south of Maryland Street, said a formal offer was made on her property, but she has told the approaching broker—Bo Leffel of Cushman & Wakefield—that she does not plan to sell, for any price.

Hackett is an acquaintance of Keystone Group founder Ersal Ozdemir, owner of the former Diamond Chain Manufacturing property, the other site the Hogsett administration said it is considering. Ozdemir had been working with the city to build a stadium and mixed-use development there for his Indy Eleven soccer team, which plays in a lower-level league. But city officials stopped those negotiations in favor of working with the undisclosed ownership group led by Glick.