Children’s Museum, city put out incentive-rich RFI for Drake redevelopment

Drake apartment building

The city of Indianapolis will offer an array of incentives for the redevelopment of the 91-year-old Drake Apartments building, according to a new document published Monday that solicits ideas for preserving the structure.

The city’s Department of Metropolitan Development and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, which has owned the Drake since 2014, put out a request for information inviting proposals and ideas from groups with an interest in redeveloping the property at 3060 N. Meridian St., saving it from demolition.

The RFI seeks a “long-term tenant with [a] practical, creative, and transformative vision for the property,” that leverages its location along the Red Line and near north-of-downtown attractions—including the Children’s Museum itself.

“The City and the Museum have had productive conversations about the future of the Drake,” said Emily Mack, director of the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development, in written remarks. “We are thrilled to collaborate in order to find solutions for the adaptive reuse of this historic building located along a bus-rapid transit line.”

The collaborators have set a deadline of Feb. 21 for proposals and are expected to pick a development partner by mid-April. The Drake was originally developed by Arthur Baynham and designed by local architect Henry Ziegler Dietz, who teamed up on several significant local apartment projects in the 1920s.

The RFI requires both the Drake and a separate garage on the site be kept as part of any adaptive reuse, along with preservation of the apartment building’s exterior. The property underwent full asbestos remediation as it was being prepped for possible demolition.

“Any exterior alterations, construction, or developments shall be appropriate to the property’s historic and architectural values and significance, and such changes must be reviewed and approved by the [Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission],” the RFI said.

The circa 1928 apartment complex, which contains about 27 units in 41,000 square feet, was vacated in December 2016 amid continued deterioration.

The Children’s Museum announced in late July it planned to demolish two properties, the Drake and the former Salvation Army building, 3100 N. Meridian St., to make way for new programming. But the controversial plan was thwarted in September when the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission approved measures adding the Drake to the Marion County Register of Historic Places and creating a historic area plan for the site.

While the measures must still be approved by the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission, they compelled the museum to partner with the city on finding a long-term solution for the Drake, since a historical designation makes it very difficult to demolish such structures if alternatives are available.

The RFI was originally expected to go out in November, but was delayed a few weeks to allow the city and museum to fine-tune the document and finalize the project timeline.

The city plans to offer a variety of tax incentives for the developer selected to renovate the building, including developer-backed bonds through a single-site tax increment financing area; New Markets Tax Credits; historic preservation tax credits; and several affordable housing-focused incentives. The incentives offered will be based on which project is selected—though the city and Children’s Museum may pick one that requires less of a public subsidy.

The winning proposal is likely to have a streamlined approval process, too, as city staff will provide technical assistance to help the developer receive favorable treatment in rezoning, variance and IHPC filings.

Ownership of the Drake is expected to stay with the museum through its affiliate TREX Enterprises LLC, but the group won’t assume any financial responsibility for the property—including insurance, maintenance, improvements, security or landscaping.

“The Children’s Museum is excited for this unique opportunity to team up with the city,” Brian Statz, vice president of operations for the museum, said in written remarks. “This partnership will facilitate and promote quality of place for many individuals living, working and playing in Indianapolis.”

Additionally, the partnership will alleviate the museum of the financial burdens it has had with the Drake over the past several years, as it will be reimbursed for property taxes, insurance costs, maintenance costs and utilities spent on the property since the building was vacated. Those funds would be paid by the selected partner, Mack told IBJ.

The total reimbursement amount is not clear—nor is the funding source—but the Children’s Museum has said it has a dedicated annual fund of about $200,000 for the Drake and the Salvation Army building through which it pays taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance for the buildings. The 2019 semi-annual tax bill for the Drake is about $7,741.

This isn’t the first time the Children’s Museum has sought to redevelop the Drake.

The museum earlier this year sent out a request for proposals eliciting ideas for the property—including the possibility it could be converted into a hotel. But the RFP received only one response that was deemed impractical from a financial standpoint.

After the museum failed to find a partner through that process, it decided it would raze the building and use the land temporarily for parking until a new master plan determines new programming that could go on the site.