NOVEMBER 7-13, 2011

This week, see what's in store for a multimillion-dollar Fashion Mall makeover and find out how a court case might change the way not-for-profits are taxed. In Focus, read about buyers edging back into the commercial real estate market. And check out this year's Women of Influence honorees.

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New booze permits unleash gold rush

November 3, 2011 |

The Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission plans to sell up to 101 new three-way restaurant permits for Marion County at an auction Nov. 18. The offering follows a recalculation—using fresh U.S. Census numbers—of how many permits should be distributed in the city.

Injury stalls Manning’s lucrative marketing career

November 3, 2011 |

Since Peyton Manning underwent neck surgery in early September, gone are almost all the television, print, billboard and myriad other commercials featuring the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

State mulls ditching traditional pensions

November 3, 2011 |

Lawmakers are mulling converting the state’s pension system into a 401(k)-like model, bringing Indiana into the heated national debate over public pensions.

Fashion Mall getting big upgrade

November 3, 2011 |

A multimillion-dollar makeover now under way at The Fashion Mall at Keystone will add an upscale food court and about 20 stores, many of them new to Indianapolis.

Carmel free clinic drawing jobless professionals

November 3, 2011 |

Trinity Free Clinic in Carmel began in 2000 to serve a growing Hispanic immigrant population. Since the latest recession, so many people—including unemployed professionals—have found their way to the clinic that the portion of white patients has grown from one-third in 2008 to 47 percent last year.

Court case might roil not-for-profit tax rules

November 3, 2011 |

A Bartholomew County not-for-profit affordable housing development group is preparing to fight in Indiana Tax Court a denial of its property-tax exemption. The denial has put the organization
$200,000 in debt and its rental homes in danger of tax foreclosure.

Duke Realty’s massive office sale wins praise on Wall Street

November 3, 2011 |

Investors have bid up shares of Duke Realty 13 percent since the company announced it was selling a huge portfolio of office buildings for $1.1 billion.

NASCAR deal comes at good time for C&R Racing

November 3, 2011 |

The company will lose $2 million next year in IndyCar-related business, but company founder Chris Paulsen has no fear.

Indianapolis’ tech sector getting some Silicon Valley cred

November 3, 2011 |

TechPoint’s 13th annual technology summit might be more notable not for who is on the formal agenda but for who is in the audience.

Temp firms say business is good, hiring picking up again

November 3, 2011 |

Employment services in the Indianapolis area say hiring is rising again, but the pace of activity has yet to return even to 2008 levels, and staffing executives don’t expect it to for some time.

Nearly 4,000 students seek private-school vouchers

November 3, 2011 |

The program, which gives Hoosier students an average of $4,500 from the state to apply toward private-school tuition, was created this year by the Indiana General Assembly. More than 250 private schools have been approved to accept the vouchers.

Buyers edging back into Indianapolis commercial real estate

November 2, 2011 |

Most buyers are bottom-fishers, investors looking for better returns or companies wanting their own building.

Empty big-box locations attracting new tenants

November 2, 2011 |

A plethora of space makes renting a cheaper option.

Third-quarter commercial real estate stats for Indianapolis

November 2, 2011 |

Commercial Real Estate Focus sections include statistical snapshots of Indianapolis’ multi-tenant office vacancy rates and the local industrial market.

EDITORIAL: Learn right lessons from Litebox gaffe

November 3, 2011 |

Gov. Mitch Daniels has been derided in recent days for standing next to California businessman Bob Yanagihara and declaring, “We like visionaries, we love inventors, we love entrepreneurs. You are all those things.”

MORRIS: Are you paying attention to election season?

November 3, 2011 |

The problem with the Indianapolis mayoral campaign and most others is, by the time the election gets here, after all the negative commercials and nasty exchanges, we are so disgusted with the whole process, we don’t care who wins.

KENNEDY: A cautionary tale about politics and policy

November 3, 2011 |

The Litebox story makes a bigger point … about the entire policy of cities “buying” jobs by offering financial incentives to companies that promise to move and/or expand.

FRAZIER: Sacred cows? They may not be worth it

November 3, 2011 |

Every organization has them. The employees who are deemed sacred cows by the work force and, like the banks deemed “too big to fail,” are considered by those in leadership “too [fill in the blank] to go.”

ALTOM: Remember, what’s new isn’t always what’s best

November 3, 2011 |

I’m a technological curmudgeon and proud of it.

HICKS: Schools and leadership keys to community growth

November 3, 2011 |

Fixing schools, paving roads, building sidewalks, sprucing up parks and cutting government waste are hard, long, inelegant and thankless tasks—but they are the ones that really matter.

SKARBECK: Bankruptcy shows how far financial system has to go

November 3, 2011 |

The failure of brokerage MF Global—the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history—is troubling: It demonstrates that behavior and incentives have not really changed in some corners of our financial system, and that regulators are still behind the curve.

Indianapolis Business Journal