Marriott International Inc., the Bethesda, Md., hotel chain, plans to construct a building near the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette that will house two hotels, the city announced Nov. 27. The building, which is to be completed by December 2009, will have a 151-room Spring Hill Suites and a Fairfield Inn & Suites with […]
Last Saturday, my wife Cherà and awoke to a beautiful fall day. Having no o b l i g a t i o n s , w decided to take spontaneous trip to Orange County, to see the restored West Baden Springs Hotel Despite the rash of stoplights on State Road 37 and a flurry of pre-game traffic for the Old Oaken Bucket clash, the drive was a breeze. Cherà had never been to West Baden Springs. So the beautifully…
Leaders at White River State Park are winnowing down a field of 18 candidates who want to lead the downtown attraction’s public relations and marketing efforts the next two to three years. Park Executive Director Bob Whitt said a winner has not yet been chosen and declined to comment on the selection process, but industry sources identified three finalists: locally based firms Borshoff and Hirons & Co., and Bandy Carroll Hellige of Louisville. When park officials put out the call…
Two decades ago the southern Indiana town of Seymour suffered from double-digit unemployment, a degraded tax base and an outflow of residents. Today, the town, located between Indianapolis and Louisville, is adding jobs along with housing, hotels and restaurants. The key was a 1986 decision by Toyota supplier Aisin Seiki to locate its first U.S. […]
Entertainment is a big part of a $480 million development proposed for the south side of downtown–plans include a 3,400-seat
theater to attract the likes of Bruce Springsteen and first-run tours of Broadway shows such as “Wicked.” The question is
whether the city can support another midsize venue.
Ten times a year, for 24 hours, a select group of executives leaves the comforts of career to embark on an experience meant to mold the participants into better leaders. They gather on Thursday evenings for dinner, bunk overnight at a hotel, and spend the following day listening to the likes of Dennis Perkins, author of “Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition.” Or, they may travel to Saint Meinrad in southern Indiana…
If Circle Centre mall were built today, it would cost $420 million. Throw in another $60 million, and you’ve got the price
of Legends District-SoDo, a proposed mixed-use development on the south edge of downtown.
A huge mixed-use project proposed for just south of downtown would feature a 3,400-seat theater designed to attract 150 concerts, plays and events per year. Lead developer Ryan Zickler says the venue could draw 250,000 new visitors to downtown per year. His development team is finalizing plans for the overall $480-million project, which also calls […]
The Simon Property Group Headquarters took top honors at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s A Monumental Affair awards last week. The 30-year-old contest honors the city’s best architecture, development and construction. Last year’s top…
The afternoon after Greg Ballard’s shocking victory at the polls, the mood was sober at Marion County Republican headquarters.
Jubilation had given way to reality. Although mayor-elect Ballard described himself “as tired as a guy could get,” he has
no time for a break. And what the former U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel will do is largely a mystery.
Corporate PowerPoint presentations are becoming so passé. Just as consumers are craving high-definition television sets for their living rooms, corporations and hotels are taking the next step and integrating the technology into their boardrooms and meeting space. Besides videoconferencing in high definition, other high-tech gadgetry now available for both the business and hospitality sectors includes digital signage displaying messages for employees or guests, and digital room scheduling alerting when meeting rooms are in use. While some companies are upgrading to…
Mayor-elect Greg Ballard said he’s got nothing against spending city money on the arts, but his administration nevertheless will evaluate whether devoting $2.5 million to it each year is the best use of that money. “It’s OK to fund [the arts] as long as people are relatively safe in the city,” Ballard said. Though acknowledging Indianapolis’ “vibrant arts community,” Ballard said it’s mostly privately funded. “I’m not saying I’m going to cut all of the arts [funding],” he said. “We’ll…
The managers of many downtown hotels are sinking millions of dollars into their properties, hoping to burnish product that will soon compete with roughly 2,340 rooms in several new hotel construction projects. And while regular renovations are the lifeblood of the hotel industry, experts say the market’s rash of big-ticket overhauls is also a defensive move. The biggest competition for existing hotels is likely to come from the $325 million J.W. Marriott complex, which will include the city’s largest convention…
Work on the Indiana Convention Center expansion is at least six months away, but numerous organizations already have reserved their space in anticipation of the larger venue. Construction on the $275 million project is expected to begin next summer and last until 2010. After completion, the center will have 747,370 square feet of tradeshow space, about 253,000 more than it has now, in addition to 183,000 square feet available at the new Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors…
Remote-controlled digital billboards are revolutionizing the outdoor advertising industry nationwide, but a city prohibition
against the medium is preventing a rollout here.
A strong demand for student housing downtown is driving a $40 million plan for a high-rise apartment tower a couple of blocks
east of the Central Canal. The developer, a partnership of Fishers-based Paramount Realty Group and Indianapolis-based Alboher
Development Co. Inc., hopes to build the 16-story Paramount Tower on a OneAmerica parking lot.
A development team is finalizing plans for a $480 million mixed-use project that calls for condos, as many as three hotels, a theater and 175,000 square feet of retail space just south of downtown. The project, Legends District-SODO, could be one of the largest private developments in the city’s history. It would sprawl over 11 […]
A development team is finalizing plans for a $480 million mixed-use project that calls for condos, as many as three hotels, a theater and 175,000 square feet…
For Mike Wyman, a devastating fire that gutted the family home during his teen-age years laid the foundation for a rewarding career in construction. The 41-year-old Wyman climbed from carpenter to become a leader of projects at two of the city’s largest commercial developers before launching his own company in 2005. WDG Construction & Development Services Inc. on East Washington Street downtown has since grown into a firm that expects to top $30 million in revenue next year-double this year’s…
Through persistence and sheer pluck, Rod Ratcliff has become a player in the gambling industry–one many businesses try to
break into, most without success. On Oct. 30, his Indianapolis-based company, Centaur Inc., closed a $1 billion financing
deal that will fund gambling projects in three states.
