Home » Real Estate

Real Estate

Articles

NOTIONS: Looking in the mirror for Santa and Mrs. Claus

Bruce Hetrick has the week off. Before he left, he updated this column that was first published Dec. 20, 2004. Contrary to folklore perpetuated each December, Santa and Mrs. Claus don’t live at the North Pole. Their heads aren’t crowned with thick, white locks. Their clothes aren’t predominantly crimson. And there’s no sleigh in the garage, nor reindeer in the stable (in fact, there’s no stable at all.) The Clauses live, instead, on the north side of Indianapolis. As occasional…

Read More

Hamilton County officials splash cold water on RiverPlace: Upstream trouble on White River could result from adding fill, overflow channel

A government panel is echoing the concerns of the Hoosier Environmental Council that Centre Properties’ proposed RiverPlace development along White River at 96th Street could worsen the effects of a flood. The Hamilton County Drainage Board doesn’t carry the weight of the U.S. Geological Survey, but its opinion could influence the giant, mixed-use project’s chances of winning a rezoning case. A letter the drainage board sent recently to the Fishers planning commission comes just before the Fishers Town Council considers…

Read More

H.H. Gregg betting big on flat screens

Locally based Gregg Appliances Inc. found itself flat-footed last holiday season when consumers demanded flat-panel TVs. The
popular televisions were in short supply at H.H. Gregg stores. This year, Gregg has bet on a huge selection of flat-panel
TVs to buoy sales.

Read More

Starbucks pours it on in Indiana

Over the last seven years, Starbucks has inundated virtually every corner of the Hoosier landscape. And the company has no
plans to slow down. Several Indiana towns–from Gas City to Angola, Batesville to Bluffton–will get their first Starbucks
in 2007.

Read More

Canal site picked for $33M project

A local developer plans to build a $33 million, four-story apartment and retail complex on the Central Canal just north of
Michigan Street. Flaherty & Collins Properties has the three-acre parcel under contract from American United Life Insurance
Co.

Read More

Crystal Food Services to go national

Crystal Food Services plans to team with several prominent restaurant chains for a nationwide expansion after severing ties
with Marsh Supermarkets Inc. early next year. The locally based catering and food-service company will report directly to
Florida-based Sun Capital Partners, which acquired Marsh in September.

Read More

Car wash company cleans up: Mike’s Express grows by luring loyal clientle

The state’s best-known car wash company has found a new formula for success it hopes will rival its popular multiwash books: monthly passes that practically guarantee a permanent shine. Indianapolis-based Mike’s Express Carwash already has enrolled more than 3,000 customers in a monthly membership program, launched in September, that allows unlimited washes in exchange for a monthly fee. Express wash passes are $39.99 per month, and “Works” passes are $69.99. “It’s truly for the person who always wants a clean…

Read More

Faced with competition, record shops look for fresh ways to rock

Music CD sales are falling–down 8 percent so far in 2005–while digital downloading of music jumped 163 percent. And nearly one-third of the nation’s record stores have closed in the past three years. Even so, Indianapolis record-store owners say they’ve been reasonably successful adapting to a changing marketplace.

Read More

Coming attraction: Imax theater in Noblesville: Technology lets theaters show Hollywood blockbusters

Once upon a time not so long ago, Imax films were nearly synonymous with museums. In Indianapolis and elsewhere, the largeformat movie screens-some as big as the side of an eight-story building-featured 40-minute films that took viewers to exotic places like outer space or the top of Mount Everest, and were usually attached to educational and cultural institutions. But technology that debuted in 2002 is bringing Imax screens to suburbia-including to Noblesville in 2008. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Goodrich Quality Theaters…

Read More

INVESTING: Election outcome a big setback for nation on upswing

A recent election ended in disaster. Voters revived a party that has no business coming back into power. I only hope the electorate wakes up soon and gets the situation back on track. No, I am not talking about the congressional elections in the United States. I’m talking about the presidential election in Nicaragua, where Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista Party, was re-elected president after a 15-year hiatus. Real estate values plunged 10 percent instantly, and large corporations began…

Read More

Bypass too tentative to affect land values, experts say: Property near toll-road exits may be coveted eventually, but uncertain route should keep speculators at bay for now

When Gov. Mitch Daniels unveiled his ambitious but vague plan for an outer loop around more than half of Indianapolis, some landowners in the potential path panicked while others dreamt of a windfall. But local experts say, until a route is more defined, neither worry nor anticipation is warranted. “There are so many outstanding issues,” said Abbe Hohmann, a land-price expert for the local office of St. Louisbased Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Hohmann said two types of buyers usually drive…

Read More

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Big screen? Two screens? Productivity debate goes on

Apple computer recently announced the results of a study by Paris-based Andreas Pfeiffer, which said buying one of Apple’s $1,999, 30-inch displays would increase productivity of one lucky employee 50 percent to 65 percent, enough to earn back the cost of the monitor before it dies or is supplanted by one with more pizazz a few years from now. Pfeiffer argues that it takes a lot of time to switch between windows on a smaller monitor, time that isn’t taken…

Read More

Smaller sales keep office real estate market humming: A $38 million deal for 3-building complex in Carmel stands out in 2006, but it wouldn’t have last year

A flurry of blockbuster office-building sales in central Indiana last year has led to fewer mega-deals in 2006. A $38 million sale of a Carmel office complex on Nov. 1, for example, was among the top five such transactions so far this year, but it paled in comparison to the nine-figure deals that won headlines in 2005. That’s to be expected, real estate observers say, since so much office inventory changed hands recently. And given the new persquare-foot highs set…

Read More

New golf superstore part of retail shakeup: Golfsmith goes head-to-head with Golf Galaxy

One of the nation’s largest specialty golf retailers, Golfsmith, is preparing to take a swing at the reigning champion of golf stores in central Indiana. The Austin, Texas-based chain is planning a 28,000-square-foot superstore in space now occupied by Marshalls in Castleton, less than a sand wedge from fellow category killer Golf Galaxy. The move is part of a major shakeup in a part of Indianapolis that’s long been a headquarters for golf shopping. The arrival of another national heavyweight…

Read More

Speedway’s windfall leads to speculation: Questions arise about possible new hotel, turn-two suite upgrades and acquisition of adjacent land

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s announcement this month that it would sell its stake in Chicagoland Speedway for $69 million has racing industry experts wondering if the famed Brickyard is planning an expansion. “There are a number of things [IMS President] Tony George could use that money for,” said Dennis McAlpine, a New York-based financial analyst covering motorsports and entertainment. “That’s not to say he’s hurting for cash, but I believe he has projects on his plate.” IMS and Daytona Beach,…

Read More

Obstacles couldn’t stop community-minded Shaheen

Yvonne Shaheen, retired CEO of Long Electric Co., is the winner of the 2006 Michael A. Carroll award, given annually in memory of the former deputy mayor to a person who embodies determination, devotion, humility and community.

Read More

Green roofs slow to take root in Indianapolis area: Despite an array of environmental and other benefits, initial costs and lack of incentives put lid on their use

Green roofs color the skylines in Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and other North American cities, but Hoosiers have to look high and low to find similar examples of the plant-filled building tops in Indianapolis. “Most green roofs [in other cities] are on the tops of existing buildings, where here they are [more likely to be found] above an underground parking garage that you might not even be aware is there,” said Mark Zelonis, director of the gardens and grounds at the…

Read More