City, outside entities start inquiring about buying land adjacent to proposed stadium site

City officials are considering the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport and adjacent property as a site for a soccer stadium—if Major League Soccer agrees to put a club in the city. (IBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)

Although Hogsett administration officials say property acquisition for the proposed soccer-specific stadium on the east side of downtown is still far off, the administration confirmed to IBJ that some recent inquiries to property owners in the vicinity stem from the city and associated parties.

Multiple property owners within the site proposed for a Major League Soccer stadium have started receiving inquiries about purchasing their land, which Aliya Wishner, spokeswoman for the Mayor’s Office, confirmed are at least partially coming from “city entities.”

Wishner declined to name the parties involved, citing a need to protect future negotiations by keeping the inquiries confidential.

Andy Mallon, executive director of the Capital Improvement Board, told IBJ the groups working toward a potential Major League Soccer stadium have “collectively made inquiries” but no land is under contract. He added that the parties won’t spend money until Major League Soccer confirms that Indianapolis will receive an expansion club, an outcome that’s still far down the road and not guaranteed.

But both Mallon and Wishner denied that the city or the CIB are involved in talks to acquire one specific plot—indicating that at least one other group is trying to buy up real estate in the area.

AES Indiana, which owns a half-acre parking lot at 355 E. Pearl St., just east of Alabama Street, confirmed to IBJ that the company is “currently discussing its sale with a third party” but did not respond to follow up questions presented through text and email regarding that third party’s identity.

The AES property appears to be critical to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to build a stadium to secure an MLS club; its address has been pinpointed by administration officials during public and closed-door meetings as the center of a possible stadium project.

When asked whether the administration is involved in an effort to acquire the site from AES, Chief Deputy Mayor Dan Parker said “no.”

He then told IBJ that city leaders view the process of land acquisition for the site as still being far off. The funding mechanism for the stadium, known as a professional sports development area, or PSDA, is viewed as the first step in the process.

That map is set to go before the City-County Council on Monday night for consideration, with an expectation that if passed, the plan will be considered by the State Budget Committee, as required by the state law that set up the PSDA financing plan.

“Our position has been, until this passes,” Parker said, “we don’t even want to get into the process of saying, ‘OK, can we put a contract on property.’”

That’s not to say there hasn’t already been some movement on certain properties in the immediate area. Bo Leffel, a land broker for the Indianapolis office of Chicago-based real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield, has contacted multiple landowners in the vicinity of the AES property in recent months, IBJ has learned.

Lena Hackett, who owns a three-story building at 10 S. New Jersey St., just south of Maryland Street, said Leffel made an offer on her property in April on behalf of an undisclosed party, which she declined. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Hackett, who previously served on the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission, said she has only heard unsubstantiated rumors about who might be trying to buy up properties in the neighborhood but said she expects the move is connected to the city’s MLS endeavor. Leffel told her that he did not know the identity of his client, Hackett said. Leffel declined to comment for this story.

The largest portion of the potential stadium site appears to be the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport, which totals 3.6 acres. The Indianapolis Airport Authority, which owns the property, is currently in the process of decommissioning the heliport and has an agreement with the city to redevelop it after. Parker told a council committee Tuesday that the decommissioning is “in the final stages,” and the airport authority confirmed Friday it was working with the FAA to continue that process.

A soccer stadium would likely occupy from 10 to 15 acres, which means the city–or its counterparts at the Capital Improvement Board, which would own the stadium under the administration’s plan–would need to acquire several neighboring parcels in addition to the heliport site. That could include a surface parking lot recently acquired by the Simon family, who own the Indiana Pacers and Fever basketball franchises.

The council’s Democratic majority leader, Maggie Lewis, asked at the council committee meeting Tuesday if the city would use eminent domain to acquire properties if needed. Faegre Drinker attorney Scott Chinn, who is representing the Hogsett administration, said the hope is to negotiate with property owners and avoid using eminent domain.

Parker later told IBJ that it’s likely property acquisition will be handled by the Capital Improvement Board, rather than the city, because the city has an extensive process that includes receiving City-County Council approval prior to beginning any negotiations. Additionally, he said the city’s budget for property acquisition is low.

Owners of the remaining three acres that appear to be within a stadium footprint declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment from IBJ. No sales disclosures have been filed for the properties within the outlined site, according to the Marion County Assessor’s Office.

Indianapolis Business Journal reporter John Russell contributed to this story.