IRT plans $3M renovation
The Indiana Repertory Theatre has won a $3-million grant from the Lilly Endowment to fund renovations of the Indiana Theatre building at 140 W. Washington St. IRT plans to…
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Premier Properties lays off workers as lawsuits, debt pile up
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.
Update: Wells auction delayed
Brokerage firm Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has delayed an auction of three parcels near Meridian and 16th streets that previously housed the Payton Wells car dealership. Auctioneer Bob Getts…
Popular chains show southside love
The Broadbent Co. plans to begin construction soon on a new restaurant strip in front of its Greenwood Place shopping center at U.S. 31 South and Shelby Street. The 7,100-square-foot center will include a Dunkin Donuts with a drive thru,…
Retro Dunkin rendering
The new Dunkin Donuts at Washington and Pennsylvania streets (reported here in November) likely will have a retro look that incorporates the old Roselyn Bakery sign. Plans call for neon signs and a stainless steel facade. What do you think?
J.F. Wild building getting makeover
A local firm has begun renovations on an historic 12-story former bank building at 129 E. Market St. Crown Property Group bought the J.F. Wild & Co. building from…
Obama taking downtown space
Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign plans to temporarily take over one of the city’s most prominent retail spaces. The campaign has reached a deal to open an office in Flagstar Bank’s former…
Developer pulls back on growth to survive precarious economy
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.
BEHIND THE NEWS: 2 tech firms planning IPOs get curveball from markets
Aprimo Inc. and ExactTarget Inc. haven’t had to weather the recent stock-market turmoil. Not directly, at least. But the two Indianapolis software companies-which filed plans for IPOs last fall, when markets were comparatively serene-surely would have made their public debuts by now if conditions had remained favorable. Lately, they’ve been anything but. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite is off 12 percent in the year. And the volatility of the Dow Jones industrial average is enough to make anyone queasy. One day,…
A vote for sidewalks
The city next week will consider an ordinance making sidewalks a requirement for any new project in Marion County. When the ordinance was initially heard last October, officials from several…
Death ponds
It hardly seems like a week goes by anymore without another story about someone sliding into a suburban
retention pond and losing their life or at least coming uncomfortably close.
Some ponds have become dumping grounds for cars, and now Plainfield…
L’explorateur eyes downtown
More fuel for the local v. chain restaurant discussion: Chef Neal Brown is looking to move his popular L’explorateur restaurant from Ferguson Street in Broad Ripple to a new location near Monument Circle….
Pizza chain growing & more
Monical’s Pizza plans to open new restaurants in Carmel, Fishers and Indianapolis later this year. The Illinois-based chain, known for its thin-crust pies, already has six stores in Indiana: in Avon, Lafayette,…
Struggling Noble Roman’s takes over franchisee’s 6 units
Noble Roman’s Inc. has taken over the operation of six franchised restaurants in Indianapolis in a bid to prove its concept
can be executed profitably. The move–which comes amid a chorus of discontent from franchisees and as the company explores
the possibility of selling itself–could help the 1,000-restaurant chain avoid the embarrassment of store failures in its
own back yard.
Mortgage blues haven’t hit all: Some firms are holding their own despite housing, credit slump
The local office of Cleveland-based KeyBank has hired a banking veteran to lead a revamped mortgage department that will boast a larger sales force. And locally based mortgage firm Signature Group recently completed construction of its new headquarters and added three brokers. In this climate of ballooning foreclosures and rising interest rates, one might wonder whether executives of the aforementioned institutions are reading the wrong spreadsheets. To the contrary, despite the gloomy picture monthly housing statistics paint, they are among…
Farm Fresh clients pay a premium to support local growers, organics
Matt Ewer and his wife, Elizabeth Blessing, launched Farm Fresh Delivery LLC in July. With nearly 500 subscribers already,
the organically- and locally-grown-groceries delivery business is blooming in a segment where many large, mass-market retailers
failed during the dotcom bust.
Friday open thread
Besides college basketball, what’s on your mind today? A starting point: What do you think of Simon Property Group’s venture into the condo business with a 47-story tower atop a Nieman Marcus in Boston? (A spokeswoman for the tower’s designer,…
Dome souvenirs & Babe Denny
This week brought potential resolution for a couple of disputes in the neighborhoods surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium:
Board limits RCA Dome souvenir proceeds to $200K
The Capital Improvement Board today agreed to rework an…
‘Major downturn’ for construction
Wondering why development news seems to have ground to a halt? The nation’s housing and economic woes are hitting development firms and slowing the demand for construction. The American Institute of Architects…
Tax legislation to become law
Gov. Mitch Daniels is set to sign the property tax legislation tomorrow.
Daniels got most of what he proposed last fall. Homeowners get a tax cut, future bills will be capped and
the sales tax rises to compensate.
Are you happy with…