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The Hogsett administration plans for the city to acquire a one-acre parking lot across from the Julia M. Carson Transit Center downtown as part of an ongoing effort to bolster the Market East district in Indianapolis.
The city expects to spend up to $4.76 million to buy the 80-space parking lot at 301 E. Washington St., which it has under contract pending the completion of two separate appraisals in the coming weeks. The property was acquired Nov. 5 by 101 S. Alabama Development LLC, a holding company for the family of Pacers owner Herb Simon.
The Simon firm bought the parking lot for $4.6 million from MVP Indianapolis Washington Street Lot LLC, a holding company for Cincinnati-based parking lot owner MVP Real Estate Investment Trust. A representative for 101 S. Alabama Development LLC did not return a message requesting comment.
The site currently serves as a surface parking lot operated by Indianapolis-based Denison Parking as well as the Presidential Place pocket park operated by Indy Parks.
The funding, which will be considered by the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission on Wednesday, also includes just more than $2 million for development costs for the property. The lot is just east of the transit center and the former Jail I property the city plans to demolish later this year for redevelopment.
It is also part of the land assemblage for Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to build a Major League Soccer stadium, centered on an AES Indiana Inc.-owned parcel at 355 E. Pearl St.
The city plans to use property tax revenue generated by the downtown tax-increment district to pay for the acquisition and the development costs. It plans to pay the average of two appraisals for the property, with a maximum cost of $4.76 million. The administration this Wednesday expects to ask the Metropolitan Development Commission to reimburse the cost of acquisition of the parking lot, as well as allocate just over $2 million more for development of the site.
“This is a property that we have wanted to acquire for some time now, with its proximity to the Jail I site,” said Megan Vukusich, director of the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development. “This property is just highly, highly desirable because of its location in downtown, so it’s something that we’ve had our eyes on for redevelopment for a while now.”
In addition to the 80-space lot, the Simon-backed holding company also owns the 1,100-space surface parking lot directly south of Maryland Street, acquiring that parcel in late April.
Both parcels are expected to play a significant role in the city’s stadium effort, as would at least a portion of the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport, which is in the middle of a decommissioning process from the Federal Aviation Administration The city has a memorandum of understanding with the Indianapolis Airport Authority that gives the city the first option to purchase the property for development once decommissioning has been finalized.
In late August, Fort Wayne businessman Chuck Surack purchased the La Quinta Inn at 401 E. Washington St. for $14.53 million as part of an effort to slow down the city’s acquisition of property for a stadium district. Surack is a co-owner of the Indy Eleven soccer team, whose own plan for a stadium district at the former Diamond Chain Manufacturing Co. site along the White River the Hogsett administration decided to abandon in favor of the Market East district property.
Surack has also been opposed to the closure of the heliport, as he owns Sweet Helicopters, which is among the most active users of the facility along with IU Health’s Lifeline operation.
A stadium would require at least 15 acres, experts have told IBJ.
A funding mechanism for a stadium project must still be approved by the State Budget Committee—a vote is expected in the next few months—and Hogsett and his senior deputies have said the city won’t move forward with developing a stadium until Indianapolis has secured an invitation to join the MLS.
The state committee will determine whether the city’s plan to create a new professional sports development area tax-capture district (which would use state and local taxes generated by properties across downtown to pay for bonds on a new stadium) has sufficient funding.
The investor group for a would-be MLS bid has yet to be publicly identified, although Hogsett has said he would like the members’ identities to be made public before the state considers the funding request. The city hopes the investor group will submit an application to Major League Soccer by the end of this year.
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As infamous Illinois politician “shoebox” Paul Powell once said, “I can smell the meat acookin.” Have to wonder about all the back room deals going down with this soccer fiasco.
We are a city that once built a football stadium without a team. The city has to have the land together before the MLS is going to pick the city.
Maybe the fiasco is why the city decided to give Ozdemir a chance after he’d failed before. His second failure at landing the MLS is why the city is having to look elsewhere. A downtown soccer stadium also has the potential to land a fair number of concerts and could fill the void when Deer Creek is turned into housing.
It will be interesting this legislative session to see how many Republican roadblocks are thrown in front of the city’s plan by legislators on behalf of Ozdemir and Surack.
Terrible site for a stadium
No worse than the location of the Fieldhouse, the Vic, or LOS.
Are you so sure Ozdemir failed, or was it because MLS is simply not going to give out more franchises at this juncture? Whatever, it would be appreciated by us soccer enthusiasts if the Hogsett regime would make clear who the backers would be, and what the further plans might be.