A key hotel in the tourism community of Nashville plans to rebuild after a fire in January 2007 eliminated half its rooms. Andy Rogers, who owns The Seasons Lodge, submitted plans to the town’s Development Review Commission this week. The commission OK’d the plans despite his not securing the certificate of appropriateness necessary to gain […]
Brita Horvath celebrated her first year on the job late last month as Baker & Daniels LLP’s diversity and pro bono coordinator. Even in a part-time capacity, paying someone to tackle diversity issues within the workplace would have been unthinkable 30 years ago, recalls Greg Utken, a firm partner who co-chairs its diversity committee. “When I got out [of law school] in 1974, the firm I was with had no women and no people of color; it was white male,”…
A trendy bar and an upscale hotel have agreed to anchor the 11-story Ralston Square project slated for South Street between
Meridian and Pennsylvania streets. The developers of the $60 million mixed-use project are moving forward after landing the
tenants necessary to secure a loan commitment, said Brian Epstein, president of locally based Urban Space Commercial Properties
and a partner on the project.
Marketing firm owner Lorraine Ball knows how to promote a business-a valuable commodity among cashstrapped entrepreneurs looking to bolster their bottom lines. So it’s little wonder that she is able to trade her expertise for services she needs, whether it’s help with an online video or time with a personal trainer. Ball is among a growing group of small-business owners embracing the age-old barter system, methaphorically scratching one another’s backs to save on cash and credit. Although Ball prefers to…
When the late Joe O’Malia ran a small Broad Ripple grocery store in the 1950s, customers occasionally would request items the store didn’t carry. Instead of turning them away, he gave his son Danny a fistful of change and an unusual order. “He would say, ‘Here’s 18 cents, go run down to Kroger'” and get it there, Danny O’Malia recalled. “He was taking care of [the customer] even though I had to work a little harder, and he had to…
Upon arrival in Katmandu, Nepal, we learned from our tour guide that the American Information Agency was bombed the day before, causing the peace corps representatives to be evacuated, along with the families of all U.S. Embassy staff. Maoist terrorists abducted 700 students and boycotted the city, closing down a dozen industries with a strike, killings and riots. The King dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. The royal massacre of the then King and…
A prominent Evansville hotel owner cannot collect damages from the state because the state built a median in a road that makes it more difficult for patrons to reach the hotel, the Indiana Court of Appeals said in a unanimous ruling handed down today. John M. Dunn previously had been awarded $4.7 million in damages […]
Seattle hospitality leaders say Indianapolis made a good choice in selecting current Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Donald P. Welsh as its new tourism leader. “[Welsh] has been a driving force in getting the state to talk about tourism and engaging the governor and mayor,” said Anthony Anton, president of the Washington Restaurant Association. […]
Colgate-Palmolive Co.’s toothpaste plant in Clarksville closes at the end of the month, but the landmark still has no buyer. The price on the 52-acre site near Louisville has been slashed to $9 million from $13 million, according to The Courier-Journal of Louisville. Observers say tight-fisted lending practices resulting from the credit crisis are likely […]
HENDRICKS COUNTY Midwest Hospitality Group adding hotel in Avon Midwest Hospitality Group has filed plans to build a 73-room, four story Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon, one of nine hotels the Avon-based company is building. Midwest Hospitality owns and operates six hotels in Central Indiana, including a Super 8 Motel in Avon. It’s expanding […]
The 119-year-old Columbia Club downtown is offering corporate discounts for the first time in an effort to boost revenue and
curb declining memberships. Previously, the Monument Circle institution sold memberships only on an individual basis. Under
the new plan, corporations will receive a significant discount, on a sliding scale, if five or more employees join.
State and local leaders are turning up the amp on the importance of higher education, but they’re also trying to tune students into the message that being college-educated doesn’t have to mean spending four years at a university. In recent weeks, both Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels have loudly proclaimed the state’s need for more workers with twoyear degrees. While government officials have long said the state needs a more educated work force to attract business,…
After the checkered flag dropped on this year’s Indianapolis 500, the green flag fell on negotiations for a new television contract between the Indy Racing League and ABC/ESPN. The current deal doesn’t expire until the end of next season, but the contract calls for the parties to discuss an extension starting this month. Sources close to both sides said ABC/ESPN pays the IRL about $10 million annually, but getting that kind of guaranteed cash beyond 2009 could be difficult. Still,…
The next few weeks will be critical for the state’s two new racinos, which need to open with a splash to meet their ambitious
projections of drawing more than 3 million visitors apiece annually. Hoosier Park in Anderson will open June 2, and Indiana
Downs in Shelbyville will follow a week later.
This week’s print IBJ is heavy on real estate news, just the way I like it. Check out some highlights:
Big plans for Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square Mall could look a lot like the…
Speedway may have been built on motorsports, but some residents think a $500 million redevelopment plan that would transform the small town into a year-round racing-themed destination goes too far. The plan, which involves 350 acres south of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has become the issue in town at a time when a certain race usually dominates conversations. At the cozy Charlie Brown’s Pancake and Steak House on Main Street, patrons mull over the project in-between forkfuls of the diner’s signature…
While landing another Super Bowl may be a long shot, local leaders clearly intend to show what Indianapolis is capable of accomplishing. “Our perspective is that this is a one-shot deal,” said local attorney Jack Swarbrick, who was part of a small contingency that traveled to Atlanta last week for the bid presentation to NFL owners. “But if we do this, and we do it well, the world will know we can do anything. If you’re thinking of Indianapolis hosting…
Lafayette Square Mall could look a lot like the revitalized Glendale Town Center in a few years if the mall’s new owners get
their way. A proposed site plan shows that New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. doesn’t intend to settle for filling
the mall’s ample vacant space.
Just after dawn a few weeks ago, my wife, CherÃ, drove me to the Indianapolis airport. At the Hertz lot, I kissed her goodbye and went inside to rent a minivan. In the parking lot, I wiped the morning dew off the windshield, popped Harlan Coben’s latest pageturner into the CD player, and cranked up the volume. Stopping only twice for combined food/gas/bio breaks, I drove 700 miles through the rich farmland of Indiana and Ohio, across a corner of…
A floating stage for concerts and a submarine memorial are in the works for Indianapolis’ Central Canal, adding to the downtown
waterway’s growing base of attractions. Efforts to develop a one-acre site at the heart of the canal, meanwhile, remain stalled.
