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Carmel-based development firm T&H Investments is spending more than $36 million to build a 122-unit affordable housing project on the former Central State Hospital campus on Indianapolis’ west side.
The Plaza at Central Greens is in the early stages of construction on a 4-acre parcel on Central Greens Boulevard, just north of the 3000 block of West Washington Street. In addition to apartments, the project is expected to feature 4,000 square feet of commercial space, social service programs and various amenities.
T&H Investments, which specializes in affordable housing developments across Indiana, has secured $36.6 million in funding for the project, much of it coming from federal sources including low-income housing tax credits, a tax-exempt loan and American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The Plaza project will comprise five buildings, including three apartment structures, an amenity center and a retail building. Each of the three-story apartment buildings will have 39 units across 14,040 square feet, while the retail building and amenity center will have two or three apartments on an upper level.
The 3,400-square-foot amenity center will feature a fitness area, a community gathering space and a computer room. A playground and a detention pond are also part of the project, along with more than 100 parking spaces in a surface lot directly behind the apartments.
Jana Hageman, president of T&H Investments, said the commercial space will cater to community organizations and other not-for-profits, with a goal of providing reduced rent rates in exchange for them offering services to residents.
The units are expected to range from one-bedrooms starting at 675 square feet to three-bedroom units of up to 1,100 square feet. The average unit size will be 900 square feet. Rent will range from $715 to $1,150 per month and will be income restricted to individuals and families making up to 60% of the area’s median income, which for a family of four would be just under $55,000.
Hageman said she hopes the Plaza at Central Greens development will be a catalyst for continued growth at the 160-acre Central State campus, which has slowly picked up steam over the years after it was acquired by the city in 2004 as part of an effort to revitalize the site of the shuttered mental health institution.
“Our biggest goal is for the residents living in a neighborhood where we develop to have an improved quality of life,” she said. “I want to make sure that we’re offering units that bring value to the residents. Often, there hasn’t been much investment in the neighborhoods we are a part of, so we [want to] bring value to them by adding retail and commercial and amenities.”
In the past decade, several projects have been developed on the Central State property, including a new football field and running track, the Indiana Medical History Museum, an event venue and more than 160 single-family homes and townhouses. Projects still in the pipeline include a redevelopment of the former Indianapolis Fire Department Station 18 and more multifamily housing and educational facilities.
The T&H project received $15.2 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, which have been sold in exchange for funds to finance the project. It also received a $14 million tax-exempt loan from federal-based Freddie Mac. Another $3 million came from ARPA funds distributed by the city of Indianapolis.
Hageman said her firm has no plans to sell the property after it’s completed, and is committed to running it as affordable housing in perpetuity.
“We’ll own and hold this project for the next 30 years—that would be the goal,” she said. “And we’ll keep reinvesting in it, maintaining it and making sure it’s high quality and a real asset to the community.”
The project is expected to open by mid- to late-2024.
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Indy needs more projects like this to help with the housing shortage issues. Good job Indy.