Three new businesses transform Irvington building

A former Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance facility at 6767 E. Washington St. in Irvington has been transformed into a multi-use facility that includes a coworking space, bar and events center all under one roof.

Each of the three areas is a separate business with its own dedicated space and its own name.

OutHouse Irvington, the coworking space, occupies 5,400 square feet in the front half of the building. The Irvington Event Center occupies 3,500 square feet in the rear. In between is BarNHouse Saloon, a 1,500-square-foot bar with an adjacent 4,700-square-foot patio.

Entrepreneur Taylor Jennings of Fishers co-owns all three entities along with local Realtor Dave Short. A third business partner is the Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association, or CIREIA, which is a co-owner of both OutHouse Irvington and the Irvington Event Center.

The event center was the first part of the project to launch—CIREIA has been holding meetings in the space since May 2019, about a month after Short purchased the building from Indiana Farm Bureau affiliate United Farm Family Mutual Insurance Co.

This is Jennings’ second coworking space—he opened his first OutHouse in a 3,000-square-foot facility in Noblesville in 2018—and he has his eye on opening two more in Indianapolis and one in each of the surrounding counties over time.

The Irvington OutHouse, which opened for business this month, includes 18 desks equipped with secondary computer monitors, 12 private offices, five meeting rooms, two small “phone booth” rooms, mailboxes, lockers and other amenities.

Members pay $129 per month for 24/7 access to the facility. Private offices, which range in size from 80 square feet to 200 square feet, are available for $590 to $1390 per month. Offices require a two-year minimum lease, and lease amounts include the monthly membership fee.

The coworking space also serves as a showroom for Jennings Commercial Interiors, an office furnishings and design business that he founded with his father, Brian Jennings.

“We sell pretty much everything in here,” Jennings said of OutHouse’s furnishings.

Still under construction is the BarNHouse Saloon and its outdoor patio, which Jennings expects will both be complete in October.

Jennings envisions the Irvington Event Center will draw a mix of customers, ranging from wedding parties to companies that need a satellite space for training or remote work.

Full-day rental fees are $4,000 for the events space, $1,500 to $2,000 for the bar and $5,000 for the patio area.

While acknowledging that COVID-19 has thrown him a curveball, Jennings still believes there is a market for what the development offers.

The event center, for instance, is equipped with a camera system capable of handling live streaming—so a corporate client could have an event with a socially-distant crowd while others participate online. The room is also equipped with windows and twin garage doors that can be opened to provide cross ventilation when weather permits.

The OutHouse space, Jennings said, can operate profitably at 50% occupancy. As of earlier this week, the coworking space had secured a tenant for one of its private offices and had signed four additional members. Jennings said his goal is to hit the 50% mark in 60 days.

In other news this week:

— The fast-casual restaurant chain Green District Salads is opening a second Indianapolis area location at The Shops at Perry Crossing in Plainfield.

Franchisee Victoria Taylor told IBJ she hopes to have the restaurant open within the next two weeks, pending inspection. It will take a 1,613-square-foot space formerly occupied by the candy store Rocket Fizz. Rocket Fizz moved to a different spot within the development.

Established in 2017, Louisville-based Green District offers a variety of signature salads and build-your-own options, with more than 50 toppings that include fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and meats. Besides the Plainfield location, the chain has two restaurants in Louisville and one in Fishers. The Fishers site, which opened last year, is operated by franchisee James Plenty.

— IBJ reported in May on the pending closure of long-time sports bar Old Pro’s Table, at 827 Broad Ripple Ave. The business has since reopened under new ownership. According to its Facebook page, new owners Steve Wentland and Ryan Nordman reopened Old Pro’s Table on June 5.

And finally, we have news of a couple of business closings in Fishers.

— BounceU, an indoor children’s play spot at 9715 Kincaid Drive, has closed its doors permanently after a seven-year run. “We have made the difficult decision not to reopen the BounceU Fishers location,” the business posted on its Facebook page July 10. BounceU is owned by Arizona-based Fun Brands Inc., which operates more than 150 BounceU and Pump It Up bounce centers around the U.S. The Fishers BounceU was Fun Brands’ only Indiana location.

— Della Leva Espresso Bar, which opened in December 2017 at 8220 E. 106^th St., announced on its Facebook page Monday that the business had “joined that long line of retail establishment that have succumbed to the pandemic. Due to the severe fall-off in business, we have had to close our doors.”