CIB wants to buy 8.8 acres near Lucas Oil Stadium for truck parking, event prep

The property at 602 W. Ray St. is southwest of Lucas Oil Stadium. (Image courtesy of Google)

The operator of the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium is eyeing downtown property southwest of the mammoth stadium that it could use to accommodate the city’s growing convention and events industry.

The Capital Improvement Board of Marion County has a non-binding letter of intent to acquire an 8.8-acre parcel at 602 W. Ray St. that includes three distinct areas for truck parking. The CIB’s plans were discussed at its meeting last week, and Andy Mallon, executive director of the CIB, provided additional information to IBJ.

The flat but unrefined parcel is bounded by the White River to the west, the Indiana Department of Administration’s Fleet Services Division to the north and Interstate 70 to the South.

A price has not been finalized for the proposed acquisition, because public entities interested in purchasing property are required to conduct at least two independent appraisals, with the maximum allowable purchase price being the average of the two.

The CIB has hired the local office of CBRE and Indianapolis firm Integra Realty Resources to conduct the appraisals.

“As development is occurring downtown, … surface parking is becoming more and more scarce,” Mallon said. “So it’s becoming more and more difficult for our shows to find parking for their semi trailers for staging during their events.”

The sites are already used to stage large vehicles, including semi trailers, for big events, but the CIB hopes by acquiring the property it can avoid increased costs as more property is scooped up by developers.

Mallon said the site would continue to be used as a marshaling yard for events that come to the city, for an added fee.

“This is a net revenue producer,” Mallon said. “We won’t give this parking lot away for free, but it will be cost-effective and competitive with other lots [downtown].”

Mallon said the need for semi trailers to find space to park will become even more acute after the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center is completed in 2026, because the city will be able to host up to two major conventions at any given time.

He added that because of the site’s proximity of the site of Eleven Park, under construction several blocks to the north, there were concerns that the site would be acquired by developer Keystone Group or another firm interested in complementing that project down the road.

Two of the parking lots on the Ray Street property have leases with an undisclosed user that parks semi trailers there, with each lease expiring in early 2026. The easternmost lot, which is 3.3 acres, would be available to start using immediately, Mallon said.

“This is sort of turnkey,” Mallon told members of the CIB during a discussion on the topic last week. “This is a piece of property that has been used for this purpose before, for a very long time.”

Mallon said the CIB worked with the Indianapolis office of brokerage Colliers International to find the property, which is owned by LPRI II West Ray Indianapolis LLC, a holding company for Boston-based LAZ Parking Realty Investors. The company declined to comment when contacted by IBJ on Tuesday.

LAZ Parking acquired the property for $3.8 million last January from Cincinnati firm Budig Realty LLC.

Members of the CIB unanimously approved the move to ask for appraisals. CIB leadership will be required to present a final sale price to the board for approval after all due diligence on the property is completed.

“We intend to have a very thriving convention and event industry, so this is one of those unglamorous pieces of it that you have to have,” Mallon told IBJ. “This isn’t for any other purpose. It’s really just to guarantee a very boring [use], so that that those parking lots don’t get developed into something else down the line.”