Glick partnership buys Maxwell apartment building

A partnership led by locally based Gene B. Glick Co. and Milhaus Development LLC has purchased The Maxwell Apartments in downtown Indianapolis from Star Financial Bank.

Terms of the sale, announced by the two companies Tuesday, were not disclosed.

The Maxwell, 530 E. Ohio St., is a five-story, contemporary art-deco building with 105 luxury apartment units and 11,000 square feet of ground-level office and retail space.

The $24 million project was developed in 2008 by locally based Kosene & Kosene and originally planned as condos. The units started at $140,000.

But as demand for new condos dwindled during the residential downturn, Kosene & Kosene in 2009 converted the residential units into apartments and turned over management to Barrett & Stokely, which owns and manages apartments at Riley Towers and Canal Square.

Kosene & Kosene also attempted to renegotiate a loan with Star Financial, which ultimately took possession of the property.

Monthly rents for the apartments, which are almost fully occupied, start at $815.

Glick will serve as general partner and will manage the property, while Milhaus will be responsible for leasing the now-vacant first floor to office and retail tenants.

Glick currently is renovating and converting some of the existing office space in the building into five additional apartment units, which will be available for new residents in January.

For Glick, ownership of the Maxwell represents its first foray into the downtown market.

“The Maxwell is one of the city’s premier addresses and a perfect fit for our growing portfolio of luxury communities,” Glick CEO David Barrett said in a prepared statement.

Founded in 1947, Glick manages more than 18,500 apartment units in 10 states and recently has stepped up its acquisition and development efforts. The company has purchased Somerset Lakes Apartments in Indianapolis and has developed Westhaven, a new luxury apartment complex in Zionsville.

The Maxwell is the first partnership between Glick and Milhaus, though the two companies are collaborating on other projects, including Penn Circle in Carmel.

Milhaus was founded in 2009 and is operated by four principals: Tadd Miller, Andrew Lahr, Gregory Martin and David Leazenby. Miller, Lahr and Martin are former Kosene employees.

That firm, meanwhile, has moved in a different direction. A year ago, the company launched a full-service residential real estate brokerage, in part to diversify amid a tough development market.