City keeping redevelopment options open for remainder of Jail I site

The former Marion County Jail 1 complex downtown is under demolition. (IBJ photo)

Half of the former Marion County Jail I site downtown has been dedicated for a new training facility for the Indiana Fever, but the Hogsett administration’s vision for the remainder of the property is less clear—although the eventual use could be related to sports.

Regardless of who ultimately develops the 1-acre eastern half of the city-owned Jail I site at 40 S. Alabama St., city officials view it as “incredibly important” that the project support further development on the east side of downtown.

Dan Parker, chief deputy mayor for the city of Indianapolis, told IBJ he expects any development to tie in directly with Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to establish a professional soccer stadium on land directly to the east—if the stadium project proceeds.

After all, the Jail I property—which is now being demolished—is part of a proposed taxing district known as a professional sports development area (PSDA), intended to generate funds for such a soccer stadium development. The taxing district still must receive state approval.

“If you look at the other half of the site, it’s incredibly important for the PSDA,” Parker said. “But if for one reason or another the soccer stadium doesn’t come to fruition, it’s of huge importance for moving development to the east.”

Parker said while the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development has been considering issuing a request for development proposals, also known an RFP, for the remaining Jail I property, no firm decisions have been made whether to do so. That means the site could also be sold, leased or donated to a private developer at the administration’s discretion without the RFP process.

The city is set to acquire a 1-acre parcel at 301 E. Washington St. from an affiliate of the Herb Simon family. Colloquially called the “triangle lot” by city officials, the parcel next to the Julia Carson Transit Center consists of an 80-space surface parking lot and the Presidential Place pocket park. The southern tip of the triangle is directly east of the Jail I site.

“The triangle was important for two reasons. One is it would be in the footprint of the soccer development, but [there’s] also the connection to the eastern half of the jail site,” Parker said. He said he expects the triangle parcel to either be integrated into the stadium or to house additional private development.

Parker said the Jail I site is expected to play a key role in private development surrounding the prospective Major League Soccer stadium. A private development could span as much as six or seven acres in the vicinity of the stadium, he said.

Parker said the city always intended to split the Jail I property into two distinct parcels to maximize redevelopment opportunities for the site.

Before being approached by Pacers Sports & Entertainment about the availability of the site for a Fever facility, the city was weighing all its options for how to go about offloading the property, Parker said. That included analysis of whether the city would need to exercise a development option agreement with Indianapolis-based developer Browning Investments, but the deal lapsed in September 2023 without an extension, Parker said.

Internally, city officials also had discussed issuing RFPs for each portion of the Jail property, but hadn’t made any decisions before the Fever opportunity came up, Parker said.

(A now-former city official, Department of Metropolitan Development administrator Matt Pleasant, told IBJ in July 2024 that an RFP was anticipated in 2025. Pleasant was later fired amid allegations of sexual harassment of co-workers.)

While other sites were considered for the Fever facility—including some surface lots near Gainbridge Fieldhouse—the sides landed on the Jail I property given its proximity to the basketball arena and the ability to tie into the downtown skybridge system, Parker said. He believes the Fever project will tie in well with the city’s plans for areas farther to the east.

The Fever’s proposed 108,000-square-foot, three-story building will house a litany of amenities for the WNBA team, including practice courts, training areas and child care facilities. It will also house a team store—something city officials suggested to ensure the site generated new revenue for the taxing district.

“Give the fact that it’s in the PSDA, we were huge advocates—and the Pacers were as well—for a Fever home store, so there was a generation of taxes by the site that would be new,” Parker said.