StreetLinks plans to move 200 employees downtown

Indianapolis-based StreetLinks Lender Solutions plans to relocate its headquarters and about 200 employees from the far south side to downtown.

The company will lease 25,000 square feet on the 68,000-square-foot ground floor of the $30 million Artistry project under construction at 451 E. Market St., developer Milhaus disclosed Tuesday.

StreetLinks, which sells real estate appraisal management services and software, plans to make the move from 7551 S. Shelby St. in the spring.

The five-story mixed-use Artistry development includes commercial space, parking and residential amenities on the ground floor, and apartments on the upper floors. Milhaus plans to start a second phase for Artistry in May. 

Milhaus said the space reserved for StreetLinks will feature significant frontage on Washington Street.

StreetLinks has about 400 employees overall, company President Tom Hurst said. Most of the employees are split between Indianapolis and Tampa, Fla., with a handful in a Milwaukee office, he said. Hurst said the company's lease on Shelby Street is expiring, giving it the opportunity to seek new space.

“Indianapolis has always been our home. However, this is the first time we’ve been able to seriously consider the downtown market,” Hurst said in a written statement. "A traditional downtown high-rise just doesn’t fit who we are as a company. Artistry offered the unique feel and cultural vibe we were looking for, along with fantastic proximity to downtown residential options and entertainment.”

The company was formed in 2008 when Kansas City, Mo.-based subprime lender NovaStar Financial Inc. paid $750,000 in cash and a portion of future profits to acquire control of Indianapolis-based PipeFire LLC and rename the business StreetLinks. NovaStar, now named Novation Cos. Inc., is still the parent company.

StreetLinks has been expecting growth since it opened in 2008, but its local employee count has changed little.

In 2011, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said the company had 400 local employees and would add 150 more by 2013 in exchange for $950,000 in performance-based tax credits and $40,000 in training grants.

Hurst said only 200 of those employees were in Indianapolis at the time of the agreement. He said the company probably won’t meet the job-creation requirements to receive those incentives.