Market Square development deadline looming
Rival developers are dusting off plans for the former Market Square Arena site now that the partnership the city chose for the project appears on the verge of missing the Aug. 31 deadline to buy the land.
Real Estate
Articles
Lauth plans huge business park
Lauth Property Group is working to complete the purchase of 550 acres it has under contract at the northeast corner of Interstate 70 and State Road 39, one interchange west of Plainfield. Lauth plans to build 7.5-million-square-foot industrial park, dubbed Westpoint Business Park.
Woman sets sights on freedom: Disability isn’t keeping shop owner from goal
Two doors opened for Pam Evans on Aug. 5-one to her own clothing store and the other to her independence. The Cherry Shop represents both to Evans, who lost most of her sight over the course of a weekend in 1998 to a genetic eye disease called angioid streaks. Left with only her peripheral vision, she also lost her career in real estate and corporate sales. After a period of depression, Evans decided she wouldn’t lose it all. “I felt…
Putting a spin on 911: Law-enforcement agencies embrace reverse system
Langsenkamp, CEO of Sigma Micro Corp. in Indianapolis, began conducting research on the patented Reverse 911 Interactive Community Notification System in 1990. The technology, however, didn’t hit the market en masse until a decade later. Today, roughly 350 law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada, including those in Carmel and Beech Grove, use it to blast warnings to residents. “It was the first system that ever allowed people to dial phone numbers and deliver messages based on the…
Modernized Dunkin’ Donuts plans 10-plus area stores
Boston-based Dunkin’ Donuts is salivating over the prospect of ringing up big sales in Indianapolis and wants to franchise at least 10 stores here within the next year as part of a national expansion.
Political upstart unloads auto dealership
Eric Dickerson, the Republican trying to unseat Julia Carson in the 7th congressional District, plans to sell his north-side Buick dealership to Ed Martin Automotive Group as early as next month. But the dealership could become a campaign liability even if it’s sold.
VanAusdall to auction off city block
Local office equipment distributor VanAusdall & Farrar Inc. is putting an entire city block on North Meridian Street up for auction, a move that could spur development in a corridor real estate experts say is ripe for activity. The three-acre property is between 12th and 13th streets.
Verus Partners gets busy in 1st year in local market: Chicago newcomer has 3 developments under way
In 2003, four men decided to leave careers at Chicago-based development powerhouse Higgins Development Partners LLC to start their own company. The result, Verus Partners LLC, an industrial, office and institutional developer, has grown rapidly, opening two offices in Canada and one in Indianapolis, and is pondering a new office in Charlotte, N.C. And its 1-year-old local office is spearheading an aggressive move focused on developing speculative industrial space. Last year, Verus hired Tom Theobald, a 19-year commercial real estate…
VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Low-impact development likely to make a big impact
Every time Indiana experiences one of its summer cloudbursts, the rainfall sets into motion one of a real estate development’s most expensive and least appreciated systems. As rain hits the ground, it quickly collects into wellengineered courses to swales and gutters, through pipes and culverts and into detention ponds. Flowing around, over and through the land that once absorbed it, the water is efficiently collected and conveyed off the site. In other words, gather it up and drain it off….
Fountain Square district shoring up its Corners: Group turns old buildings into residential/work spaces
If State and English avenues in the Fountain Square district were on a Monopoly board, they would probably be the ones available immediately after passing “Go.” But after the Southeast Neighborhood Development Inc. is finished there, the intersection will move several spaces closer to Park Place. The not-for-profit is investing $1 million to renovate three dilapidated buildings it bought to convert them to residential/work spaces as part of its Fountain Square Corners development. A local photographer who will live in…
BEHIND THE NEWS: Coastal cash flowed into tiny firm, yielding big payoff
Century Realty Trust is but a grain of sand in the universe of real estate companies. But within the last few years, the Indianapolis firm has caught the attention of investors on the coasts, and they’re the richer for it. Now that Century Realty is selling nearly all its properties to Indianapolis-based apartment owner Buckingham Properties and liquidating, its investors likely will collect from $20.50 a share to $21 a share, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and…
Noble Roman’s seeking a return to glory
Noble Roman’s Inc. executives think they’ve found the recipe to lift their company out of its stock malaise. The Indianapolis company started franchising last year restaurants that feature dual branding with its Tuscano’s Italian Style Subs, and it plans 157 locations within three years.
Architectural firm embraces solar panels
The architectural firm Schmidt Associates Inc. wants to persuade clients to build greener buildings. So a couple of weeks ago–during a heat wave and under scorching sun, nonetheless–workers erected a solarpanel awning in front of the company’s 320 E. Vermont St. offices.
CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Orange County casino a losing bet?
I’m starting to get a bad feeling about the Orange County casino project. Truth be told, I’ve had the bad feeling for a long time, and now it’s getting worse. The latest blip on the radar in what has been a challenged project from the get-go is the contentious legal battle that has surfaced between the two partners: Bob Lauth of Lauth Property Group and Bloomington billionaire Bill Cook. I guess that’s not that unusual. Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana…
Crown Hill land’s price tag hinges on retail approval
Now that Mann Properties LLC has won the bidding war for 70 acres of land on the northern end of Crown Hill Cemetery, the rezoning debate begins.
State awarenesss initiative targeting investment fraud: Program touts knowledge to prevent financial scams
Conservative estimates put the amount of money Hoosiers are bilked by investment fraud scammers at $100 million a year. The high-end estimate for victims of pyramid scams, bogus gas and oil ventures and unscrupulous mortgage practices is closer to $800 million. Those involved in catching and prosecuting the scammers say proactively educating people about investments in general and scams in particular would go a long way toward helping the problem. “Our financial illiteracy is high,” said Mark Maddox, managing partner…
At age 25, Wild Birds exceeds 300 stores in 43 states, Canada
When Jim Carpenter opened the first Wild Birds Unlimited in Indianapolis 25 years ago, his goal was to bring people and nature together–a combination that has brought him "unimaginable" success.
City Securities buys lender in bid to reach new markets
City Securities Corp., one of the largest investment firms based in Indiana, has purchased Columbus, Ohio-based ReCasa Financial Group LLC, a specialty lender focused on rehabs of dilapidated houses.
MIBOR under scrutiny by FTC
The Federal Trade Commission recently slammed the Austin Board of Realtors for how the Texas organization runs its multiple-listing service, charging that a policy change barring certain homes from Web search engines runs afoul of federal antitrust laws.
Airport Authority sells 103 homes after sound modifications
The Indianapolis Airport Authority has begun listing at www.indianapolisairport.com homes it acquired under its nearly decade-old “purchase assurance/sound insulation program.”