Construction of Pan Am Plaza in the mid-1980s was a major step in the evolution of Indianapolis into a sports town worthy
of hosting a Super Bowl. But the office building, parking garage, skating rinks and public gathering place came up short over
the years in other ways for both taxpayers and developer, the Indiana Sports Corp.
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.
A Maryland company has taken ownership of downtown’s 28-story M&I Plaza just three months before a major tenant departure
leaves the skyscraper 70-percent vacant. The new owner is CapitalSource Inc., a commercial finance and investment firm based
in Chevy Chase, Md. It had been a lender to the former owner, which defaulted.
The Malibus and Impalas disappeared from Payton Wells Chevrolet more than 18 months ago, but the controversy over the defunct
dealership at 1510 N. Meridian St. is far from being in the rearview mirror for some of the city’s top businesspeople and
developers. A court battle over the dealership’s properties could determine when and how the roughly six acres of prime land
are redeveloped.
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.
Tampa, Fla.-based DeBartolo Development has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Plainfield’s Metropolis mall out of foreclosure
and hopes to hook Macy’s and Bass Pro Shops to anchor a second phase.
A local developer plans to spend up to $45 million building a “north village of downtown” on several parcels it has assembled
near the Central Library. Buckingham Cos. plans to build apartments, offices, restaurants and retail space-all surrounding
its headquarters in the three-story Stokely-Van Camp building at the southeast corner of Meridian and St. Joseph streets.
The owners of Market Tower–the city’s fourth-tallest skyscraper–tried to sell the 31-story building this month but apparently
were unable to generate bids that met expectations. The timing of the sale–at a point when financing large deals is difficult–suggests
the owners may be eager to unload the asset.
The owners of a downtown skyscraper badly damaged in a 2006 storm are suing their insurance company after it halted payments
on a facade-replacement project. The suit, filed April 1, accuses the insurance company of a “bad faith” attempt to avoid
paying for repairs to the 36-story One Indiana Square building at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and Ohio streets.
Premier Properties USA Inc. has eliminated about half its headquarters staff–more than 40 employees–as banks seize several
of its properties and CEO Christopher P. White faces a barrage of new lawsuits alleging unpaid bills, defaulted loans, illegally
redirected rent payments and check fraud.
The CEO of locally based Lauth Group Inc. says most people he knows in the business, even the steely types who always project
optimism, are privately nervous about the economic morass that began with a collapse in subprime mortgages.
In 2005, assessors valued the 559-acre Indianapolis Motor Speedway at $34.4 million for property tax purposes. According to
the latest Marion County reassessment, it now has a market value of $170 million. Thousands of other businesses also would
see extraordinary spikes in property values, according to an IBJ analysis of the latest assessment data.
Wachovia Bank has begun foreclosure proceedings on one of Premier Properties USA Inc.’s most prized developments, a giant
Ohio lifestyle center anchored by Target and J.C. Penney. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank also is foreclosing on a vacant former
Wal-Mart store in front of Premier’s Metropolis mall in Plainfield.
Browning Investments is contemplating developing a business park just north of Indianapolis International Airport in what
would be the largest development to date in the so-called Minnesota Street corridor.
A Bloomington company that revived a former Thomson Consumer Electronics/RCA plant in that city is taking a shot at redeveloping
one of the largest industrial eyesores in Indianapolis, also a former RCA complex. Pinnacle Properties plans to spend $20
million redeveloping the 13-building property northwest of Sherman Drive and East Michigan Street.
A high-flying Carmel businessman who moved his base of operations to Miami a couple of years ago is accused of burning through
$160 million of investors’ money in the collapse of his real estate empire.
The Nature Conservancy has agreed to buy a blighted industrial property on the eastern edge of downtown to develop a new Indiana
headquarters. The $4.5 million project–which will revitalize or replace the former home of Nemec Heating & Supply Co. at
614 E. Ohio St.–should provide another boost to an area that has been bulking up on development, mainly residential.
Paris-based utilities giant Veolia Water has reached a deal to move its North American headquarters into the 16-story National
City Center, providing a boost to a downtown building still reeling from the loss of Simon Property Group Inc.
The retail juggernaut at 86th Street and Keystone Avenue could get even stronger in the next several years. Locally based
Premier Properties USA Inc. revealed plans in 2007 for a $750 million redevelopment of a prime corner near The Fashion Mall
at Keystone.
Christopher P. White is arguably the city’s most daring real estate developer. But an IBJ review of hundreds of pages of public
records shows White and his Premier Properties USA Inc. are facing major financial and legal challenges.
