A locally based property management firm is struggling to find a buyer for its downtown apartment complexes, even as the city’s
rental market continues to thrive. The privately owned Zender Family Limited Partnership, which was founded 38 years ago,
placed its 18-property apartment portfolio up for sale in November.
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…
Encouraging new development-residential and commercial-is such a high priority in many communities these days that one would think both the private and public sectors would rush to break ground before the impulse passes. But as ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso often responds each Saturday during the season to the observations of others, “Not so fast my friend.” Before construction actually starts, all parties involved in a proposed project, if it is to be successful, must reach consensus on a…
Last week, after spending $71.83 to fill up my car, I said to myself, “Tomorrow, I’m taking the bus.” So I did. It wasn’t my first time on the new IndyGo commuter bus from Carmel; it was my fourth in the last five weeks. On that particular day, I was fed up. It was the first time that gassing up cost me more than $70, and it made an impression. I guess that’s what it’s going to take for all…
In terms of eco-friendliness, few homes in central Indiana boast much more than a high-efficiency furnace or low-flush toilet. But a Carmel-based custom-home builder is so certain the region is ready to embrace the green movement that he is willing to risk investing in a residential community designed to achieve national environmental recognition. Frank Redavide, president of Castalia Homes LLC, is finalizing financing for the project and plans to start construction within 60 days. The 144-lot development, called Villages of…
John Sebree is launching Watermark Residential as a partnership with the owners of Carmel-based Thompson Thrift, a development and construction firm best known for its retail strip center projects. Thompson Thrift was eager to diversify its business, and apartments are as attractive as ever: The subprime mortgage meltdown has reduced the volume of new single-family homes, and the condo market also is hurting. Meanwhile, apartment occupancy rates are sky high in many markets, including Indianapolis, and the prospects for rent…
For Dr. Tim Story, frustration was the mother of invention. The Carmel internist didn’t like the cost or complexity of the electronic medical record systems he had seen. So he created his own. And now he’s trying to sell it to other doctors. “I wanted an EMR that I could use, that I could understand,” said Story, 55, who also chairs the largest group of physicians at Clarian North Medical Center. Story is by no means alone. Hundreds of doctors…
As gas prices approach $4 a gallon and economic growth grinds to a standstill, many retail shops are feeling the pain. Consumers who don’t have as much disposable income are cutting back on clothing and accessories purchases. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dropped to its lowest level in 26 years last month, and several reports find that consumers will likely be spending their so-called economic stimulus payments on bills, not shopping sprees. But one retail category already is…
Symphony Bank’s palatial branch along East 96th Street-outfitted with a copper roof, towering domed ceiling and heated parking lot-was designed to telegraph wealth and stability. But instead, the $5 million Taj Mahal became the most prominent symbol of the bank’s excesses and one reason the startup has lost money every year since its founding in June 2005. The bank, which has no other branches, has torn through two management teams and piled up annual losses of $2 million or more…
Small Towns, Big Business Hospitals mixed bag for rural economies WILLIAMSPORT-To see the economic impact hospitals have on Indiana, this town of 1,900-which boasts its county’s only stoplight-provides a good view. The 16-bed St. Vincent Williamsport Hospital is the fourthlargest employer in Warren County, where Williamsport is the seat, and pays wages that are 60 […]
Around Indiana, hospitals continue to grow and add workers, increasing their role as an economic driver to the state’s economy.
But health care reformers say hospital growth has a double edge, as higher health care costs dampen growth prospects for other
Indiana employers and their workers.
Preparations are well under way for the U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel. Traffic and parking plans have been determined. They’ve identified the main entrance and the location of merchandise, media and corporate hospitality tents. Speaking of the last item, they’re already approaching a sellout, but tents might be added if demand persists. Tickets have been printed and have gone on sale. The money necessary to put on such an event is being raised. They’ve even…
Billionaire philanthropists Mel and Bren Simon are laying the groundwork to donate Asherwood–their extravagant Carmel estate
and golf course–to the Indiana University Foundation, potentially to house a new think tank. The couple plans to downsize
into a home just outside the town square in the nearby Village of WestClay.
Delta Faucet Co. laid off another 95 workers from its Greensburg plant yesterday, the company’s third round of cuts this year, according to the Greensburg Daily News. The Carmel-based company idled the same number of workers in mid-March. The new cuts will leave about 567 workers employed at the Greensburg facility. The cuts have been […]
A program rolled out yesterday by State Treasurer Richard Mourdock aims to encourage more Indiana business owners to sell companies to their employees. The Treasurer’s Office will subsidize banks for loans used in transitions to employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs. Taxpayers will more than recoup the program’s annual cost of $500,000 a year because […]
Conseco Inc.’s loss narrowed in its first quarter, but the company still missed the expectations of Wall Street analysts. The Carmel-based insurer reported a loss of $5.8 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with a $10 million setback in the same quarter a year ago. Excluding investment losses, Conseco’s insurance companies posted […]
Conseco, Inc. has agreed to pay as much as $6.3 million in fines and restitution to settle an investigation by insurance regulators in Indiana and four other states into its handling of claims, complaints and marketing of its long-term care policies. The Carmel-based insurance company said today that the settlement affects customers of two subsidiaries: […]
Domestic automakers were already scheming about new ways to chop dealers–cutting costs to service them–as their market share
drained to Toyota and other foreign competitors. Now, an economy standing on the brakes could drive another round of dealer
consolidations that might not be a good deal for family-owned peddlers of metal.
In 2002, Indiana ranked an anemic 37th among all states in the amount of total venture capital investment. That year, California had 41 times the investment of Indiana on the basis of per dollar of gross state product. Indeed, few local entrepreneurs or finance professionals could identify more than a couple of Indiana-based VC funds. Few national venture funds even visited Indiana companies as they flew over the Hoosier state on their way between the coasts. As I learned while…
A depression in the home-building market has claimed a Fishers builder and continues to hammer locally based Davis Homes LLC–a
powerhouse for years that now is facing foreclosure on about 80 home sites.
