Cannon IV puts downtown HQ property on market

A longtime distributor of printing cartridges hopes to sell its property in an area of downtown that’s attracted a lot more commercial and residential activity in recent years.

Cannon IV is asking $3.3 million for the nearly 3-acre parcel at 950 Dorman St. that contains an office and warehouse building, according to the DTZ listing.

The site sits at the entrance of the Cottage Home neighborhood just south of East 10th Street and east of Interstates 65 and 70. Across Dorman, local developer Stenz Corp. is building 14 houses as part of a project that could include a mixed-use development along 10th Street.

In addition, custom homebuilder Ursula David is building custom modular homes as part of a small, architecturally designed pre-fabricated development she launched in 2013.  

The stretch of East 10th Street that has lured both Stenz and David is a short walk from where the Monon and Cultural trails connect near bustling Massachusetts Avenue. More retailers have ventured past College Avenue since Cannon IV’s arrival in 2000.

Andrew Morris, an industrial broker at the local office of CBRE, expects Cannon IV’s property to generate a lot of interest.
 
“As far as being connected to [downtown], you can’t find a site to replicate that building,” he said.

The distributor of Hewlett-Packard products put the property on the market because it no longer needs as much warehouse space. Cannon IV’s 38,900-square-foot building, which it built, is split evenly between office and warehouse uses.

When the recession hit, Hewlett Packard stopped forcing its dealers to purchase products by the truckload to secure better pricing and instead allowed them to buy in much smaller quantities.

Cannon IV is looking to slice its office and warehouse space by half, preferably by rehabbing an older downtown building.

The company remains profitable but has diversified by expanding into software, company CEO Jerry Jones said.

The decision to put the property on the market was difficult, he said.

“We love this building and we love this area,” Jones said. “It’s fun to see everything growing up around us.”

Across 10th Street to the north, the Circle City Industrial Complex soon should be home to the city’s first “maker space”—a collaborative area where artisans have access to industrial tools and programming.

Teagen Development Inc., the building’s new owner, and Riley Area Development Corp. plan to renovate the south end of CCIC—a portion that is roughly 120,000 square feet.

Ralph Balber, president of Alo Property Group, who once listed the complex, said he thinks Cannon IV’s building could be suited for either a single- or multi-tenant use.

“With the push of Mass Ave heading out that way, I think it’s a great site,” he said. “We had tons of interest on the Circle City industrial building across the way.”

Cannon IV was founded in 1974 by Jones’ father, Richard. He died four years later, leaving Jones in charge. Jones’ three younger brothers also are involved in the business.

The company started downtown, in a building across from Bankers Life Fieldhouse at the southwest corner of Pennsylvania and Maryland streets. In 1980, it bought from Indianapolis Public Schools an old school building at East 30th Street and North College Avenue along Fall Creek Parkway. The then-Whitsett Group (now TWG Development LLC) bought the building from Cannon IV and converted it into the Stetson Senior Apartments.