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.
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.
It was a big year for downtown development proposals. Two in particular grabbed headlines: Legends District SoDo and Penn
Centre.
Entertainment is a big part of a $480 million development proposed for the south side of downtown–plans include a 3,400-seat
theater to attract the likes of Bruce Springsteen and first-run tours of Broadway shows such as “Wicked.” The question is
whether the city can support another midsize venue.
If Circle Centre mall were built today, it would cost $420 million. Throw in another $60 million, and you’ve got the price
of Legends District-SoDo, a proposed mixed-use development on the south edge of downtown.
A long-neglected neighborhood south of downtown called Babe Denny suddenly is in the spotlight, attracting attention from
city planners, code enforcers, land speculators and a politically connected attorney.
A legal fight is brewing over a 2.3-acre parking lot sandwiched between the RCA Dome and Lucas Oil Stadium. The state is seeking
to acquire the property through eminent domain and is fighting an appraisal that puts its value at $7 million. The owners,
meanwhile, contend the land is worth about twice as much.
A local development team is working on a 10-story, mixed-use tribute to a man who helped design the original plan for Indianapolis,
Alexander Ralston. The $60 million project, dubbed Ralston Square, would feature a 150-room hotel, 55 condos, a 617-space
parking garage and 41,000 square feet of retail space.
Now that most of the existing buildings along South Meridian Street downtown have been rehabbed for condos, restaurants or
hotels, developers are eyeing surface parking lots. Local companies filed plans recently to replace two such gaps in the Wholesale
District streetscape with mixed-use projects.
Fallout from the subprime mortgage fiasco has scuttled a developer’s plans to acquire Pan Am Plaza and could complicate a
host of other development deals under way in Indianapolis.
A Texas firm has agreed to buy Pan Am Plaza’s 12-story office building and skating rinks and is planning to replace the rinks
with a more-than-$50-million restaurant and retail development.
After years of designing banks, churches and condo conversions, Prince/Alexander Architects Inc. is working
with unnamed partners on a plan to replace its headquarters with a $47 million, 24-story hotel and condo development called
West Merrill Tower.
South-side developer J. Greg Allen is pitching a massive project along Pennsylvania Street downtown that includes hotel towers–one
28 stories, the other 17–to be built on property now used mainly for surface parking.
A high-profile local firm that quietly negotiated last fall to salvage the stalled redevelopment of the Market Square Arena
site abandoned its plans when the city decided instead to solicit new proposals early this year.
Bustling foot traffic at lunchtime and at night helps sustain many of the restaurants, shops and galleries in the vibrant
Mass Ave downtown neighborhood. But few of the Massachusetts Avenue shoppers and diners on foot venture east of the psychological
barrier that is College Avenue.
The age-old concept of living above your workplace is catching on again in Indianapolis, just as the developers of Douglass
Pointe Lofts had hoped. The $2.65 million landmark at 25th and Delaware streets already will soon also be known for a diverse
roster of local businesses.
Kosene & Kosene Residential Inc. pioneered the downtown market for new-construction condos with luxury projects named after
classic cars. Now, the locally based company is striving to attract buyers for its latest project by adding a new standard
feature: affordability.
A who’s-who of local firms is planning bids to redevelop the Market Square Arena site with mixed-use projects that would depart
sharply from previous efforts focused on residential. New plans are expected to include retail , offices, apartment units
and condos backed by high-profile local developers that didn’t bid before.
Debate over a developer’s plan to buy 71 acres of woods and wetlands on Crown Hill Cemetery’s northern edge for a retail-and-residential
project will come to a head this week when the Metropolitan Development Commission votes on the proposal.
Buckingham Cos., the Indianapolis-based owner/manager of more than 60 apartment complexes in five states, has broadened its
development sphere to include three square blocks of downtown real estate.
