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A pair of Indianapolis developers with plans to revamp the City Market block are expanding their project’s reach to incorporate a hidden city landmark.
Gershman Partners and Citimark plan to collaborate on the overhaul with the City of Indianapolis, which will spend about $15 million to improve the Indianapolis City Market’s western plaza with green space, outdoor seating and an indoor-outdoor cultural exhibit centered on the underlying Indianapolis Catacombs. The area includes Charles L. Whistler Memorial Plaza, which was dedicated in 1987 in honor the civic leader who wrote much of the legislation consolidating the city and county governments under Unigov.
A collaboration with the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development, the effort is part of a larger project that includes converting the Gold Building, 151 N. Delaware St., from office space to 354 apartments starting later this year and a refresh of the City Market itself.
Gershman and Citimark are also spending about $12 million on improvements to the parking garage and $30 million to renovate the 11-story office building at 251 E. Ohio Street. The companies are also considering construction of an 11-story apartment tower on the eastern plaza, as part of the same multi-phase project first announced in 2022.
The proposal for the western plaza would include exposing a portion of the catacombs, which were historically part of the basement of the 3,500-seat Tomlinson Hall, a public auditorium that was built in 1886 and burned down in 1958. The hall, designed by architect Dietrich Bohlen, was constructed alongside the current City Market building.
Unlike most catacombs, the Indianapolis Catacombs are not home to human remains, but are a series of underground passages and walkways featuring vaulted arches and limestone columns.
The southern portion of the plaza would feature a sunken floor that sheds daylight on some of that architecture, as well as an entrance for the remainder of the catacombs, while the rest of the plaza is expected to offer a mix of other public amenities, seating and history-focused plaques. The developers are working with Indianapolis-based landscape architect Merritt Chase on the design for the plaza.
“This new design allows for full access, to experience those historical elements of the catacombs, and really just adds that authentic character to the development that you don’t get to see in brand new development all that often,” said Megan Vukusich, director of the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development. “So we’re really excited that we are partnering with Gershman and Citimark through their office conversion of the Gold Building, and [to] also create this wonderful public space that’s going to be accessible to everyone.”
The exposed portions of the catacombs will be professionally treated to help them withstand weathering, she said. The city and developers will also work closely with historic preservation organization Indiana Landmarks, which has reviewed the design plan.
The Platform, which for years has served as the western wing of City Market and was home to the Indianapolis division of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and several other businesses, is set to be torn down as part of the project. LISC Indianapolis helped organize Wednesday’s announcement as something of a farewell to the structure, where demolition will begin in the first half of this year.
The demolition will create a direct connection between the plaza and a new main entrance for the revamped Gold Building, which will receive an all-new (non-gold) glass enclosure as part of its $180 million overhaul. The building conversion—which will include at least 35 units set aside for individuals and families making up to 80% of the area’s median income—is expected to be finished by the end of 2026, along with the plaza renovations.
“The redevelopment of City Market marks the next exciting chapter in the ongoing Downtown Resiliency Strategy,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said in written remarks. “The first phase of this project will not only revitalize one of our city’s most historic and beloved sites, but it will ensure the City Market campus remains a dynamic, welcoming space.”
Eric Gershman, principal of Gershman Partners, said work will start soon on the Gold Building and that the project, while complex, will be a worthwhile investment.
Basically everything in the building is new, other than the structure itself,” he said. It allows Gershman to bring “neighborhood type amenities to entice and enhance the downtown living experience, versus just changing out a door walking into a mundane office building. This actually lets us have a lot of activity and [more of] what people are looking for when they come to live downtown.”
The city and the developers are also continuing to work through renovations to the main City Market building, which was closed temporarily in March to allow for deferred maintenance work on ventilation, plumbing, electricity, loading docks and emergency equipment, which is now underway. The project is set to include a restoration of the structure and a reconfiguration to accommodate vendors.
Gershman officials said they are hopeful the Gold Building conversion and western plaza upgrades will set a solid foundation for bringing in a new operator to run City Market.
“We have the opportunity to see how we do want to program that new space,” Vukusich said of the western plaza. “I think we’re waiting to have the City Market operator at the table to really think through what options we have. But the plan that’s laid out does give us a lot of different opportunities for different programming that we’re looking forward to exploring.”
Most recently, City Market was managed by the not-for-profit City Market Corp. The property had encountered financial challenges—and waning occupancy—ahead of its temporary closure.
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This is looking interesting and creative! Good to see the designers and developers are not the same old we’ve experienced the last 15 years.
It doesn’t look cheap enough. No cementboard siding, garish colors or motorhome-like slide-outs. Where’s Milhaus when you need them?
I’d call TWG out before Milhaus, but both substandard developers.
The development team is Gershman Partners, Citimark, and Milhaus!
Who are the architects and landscape architects for the project?
7th paragraph, last sentence: “The developers are working with Indianapolis-based landscape architect Merritt Chase on the design for the plaza.”
DkGr and Merritt Chase
The catacombs are wholly unimpressive. But at least the plaza looks well designed.
The project was announced over a year ago with no construction activity started even though the market was closed last March.
Not good for the vendors who had to be out of the market last March even though it could have stayed open months longer.
Traffic through the market was visibly down after the CCB relocated half the building. The only places that were worthy of visiting for or had a chance at long term operation have found substantially more viable long term locations.
Actually Robert and Murray, Union Station killed the City Market way back then. It never came back fully.
Kevin, that’s true. But traffic was down substantially from even five or ten years prior to the CJC relocation.
It is very sad — bordering on unconscionable — that neither the City’s news release nor the IBJ story make any reference to the name of this so-called “Western” plaza. It is and has been for at least 30 years Whistler Plaza, named for Charles Whistler.
https://indygipc.org/initiatives/whistler/
We erase history at our peril. Monuments to the past, even small ones, serve the useful civic purpose of establishing standards we hope our young citizens will aspire to emulate. That is certainly true of Charlie Whistler, whose work to create modern Indianapolis was appropriately recognized in the naming of this important downtown corner.
Such obvious eagerness to replace legitimate historical legacy is notoriously indicative of ambition to reinvent history in a new image. As I said, sad.
Mark, we’ve updated the story with an additional image and a reference to Charles Whistler.
Good catch Mark!…. and good response Jeff. I see the bottom rendering has the Whistler Plaza name on the brick wall.
I have been reading about this proposed development for going on three years now. Will construction ever actually start? Is this another Wilshaw type development without any funding?
Looks great but what are the plans to police it so that the homeless don’t destroy all the hard work to beautify the area! The missions continue to fester the problems we have downtown with the homeless. This will look great for a year but unless we have a plan to maintain it, it will all be for not!
The line “The companies are also considering construction of an 11-story apartment tower on the eastern plaza” was an eye opener…..30 months later and there are no finalized plans for the apartment tower that was the centerpiece of this original proposal? Seems awfully slow
Unfortunately the City keeps selecting developers that can not fulfill their proposals. The 11-story apartment building was a key component in this development and no work has been started on the Gold Building in 30 months. Maybe we need to pursue national developers outside Indianapolis that can actually fulfill their commitments.
I love this, but I really hope the city starts seriously considering a need for more grocery stores in the downtown area. With the Gold Building turning into apartments, Whole Foods, Needlers, and Kroger are some of the only options for downtown residents and it is not nearly enough. It’s a shame we don’t have someone like Target or Trader Joe’s coming in. Especially considering the upcoming Circle Centre redevelopment.
What downtown, specifically referring to the CBD, could use is a year round farmers market style event. But it does not need another grocery store.