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The developer behind plans to overhaul the 36-acre Devington Plaza shopping center on the east side of Indianapolis is going back to the drawing board.
New York City-based Skysoar Capital Partners withdrew its request to rezone the property late last week after neighbors and elected officials told a city board they were unconvinced that a two-month extension to submit updated plans would be fruitful.
The company’s most recent proposal called for a two-phase, $100 million revamp of the property consisting of more than 500 apartments, 35,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, town houses, a hotel, an esports facility and various community spaces. Residents have suggested their own ideas for the project, with many saying they were staunchly opposed to a high concentration of housing on the site.
Officials with the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development modified their recommendation to rezone the property from approval to denial, stating that Skysoar hadn’t provided additional communication on the status of the development or a finalized site plan.
In a lengthy statement, Skysoar principal Clark Katz told IBJ that the company “remains committed to the vision of revitalizing Devington Plaza into a vibrant, thriving community asset” and vowed to work closely with city leaders and planners and the neighborhoods around the property to find a path forward.
“We had hoped to move forward with a plan that would have an immediate and transformative impact on Devington Plaza, bringing much-needed investment and activity to the site,” said Katz. “However, without alignment on a financially and operationally feasible solution, we will now need additional time to reevaluate and explore new possibilities. As a result, the site will unfortunately remain dark, unused, and underutilized for the foreseeable future.”
The company cannot refile its application to rezone the property for three months following its decision to withdraw.
In recent weeks, Katz said the firm had become more open to modifying its proposed housing mix to focus more on senior residences rather than mixed-income apartments. But he said Skysoar would still need to ensure the property could still generate feasible financial returns for the company to move forward.
During last Thursday’s Metropolitan Development Commission hearing examiner meeting, neighborhood leader Stephanie Marshall said she was concerned with the plans laid out by the development firm because they were incongruent with the desires of residents. More than three dozen residents attended the meeting to express opposition to the project, including a continuance Skysoar sought for the project before ultimately withdrawing its request altogether.
Marshall led the Devington Redevelopment Task Force—a self-appointed group of neighborhood leaders—which in February laid out its own ideas for the property.
While the task force doesn’t have money of its own and has no agreement with a developer that would allow it to make the proposal a reality, its ambitious proposal included a large community health and wellness complex and grocery store, an amphitheater, parking connected to the Arlington Middle School campus, a multi-use sports field, a small retail center and senior housing.
In a statement, Marshall said the withdrawal of Skysoar’s plans represent a “significant milestone” for the community.
“When the petitioner decided to withdraw [its] rezone request, there was a collective exhale of relief and excitement. We have won this battle, but the war is far from over,” Marshall said. “This victory, although small, is a mighty one that our community needed. It marks the beginning of our next set of challenges as we strive to reconnect Devington Plaza as a vibrant community destination. This time, we have the opportunity to start anew, from the very beginning. Previously, we were at a disadvantage, constantly playing catch-up on decisions that were made without considering our community’s needs.”
Marshall said the neighborhood will work to local developers and investors to work with the neighborhood’s preferred architect, WDi Architecture’s Daryl Williams-Dotson, to move forward the task force’s recommended project. However, Skysoar continues to hold rights to the property, meaning the site cannot be developed by others without approval from the company and Devington Plaza’s owner.
Both the developer and the task force have said they would like to see a complete demolition of the existing 192,000-square-foot shopping center to make way for redevelopment.
City-County Councilor Keith Graves, whose district includes the Devington area, said he was “super excited” by Skysoar’s withdrawal of its plans, adding that he believes working to find a path that incorporates the neighborhood’s desires is a top priority.
But he said neither he nor his constituents are in a major rush to develop the property without deep conversations. Both Graves and State Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, threw their support behind neighborhood residents during the hearing examiner meeting.
“I think builders and developers—those that really want to put something quality and acceptable in our community—they see that we’ve got a community that cares,” he said. “This particular part of our city has a strong, deeply rooted sense of care across its neighborhoods, and I’m just so proud of them to see them rally together and stand up for what they want in their community. I think that the right development project will come by. We’ve waited for a while, and I don’t think there’s going to be any problem waiting a little longer.”
While Marshall has repeatedly said she doesn’t see a path forward with Skysoar, Graves said he does—but only with major concessions from the company.
“I think it’s really [about going] back to square one,” said Graves. “We’re here to listen and as long as we can have the confidence in who is going to literally be a neighbor in our community … that the project that they have will be something that that we could all call our own, I think we’d be willing to listen.”
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Everything the community group is asking for is not going to generate money for a developer. In order to lift up the neighborhood they need to quit putting low income apartments in areas like this. They’re never going to come up without some market rate apartments in the area that are actually nice and desirable.
I think a lot of the people in that area think they can just make the plaza the exact same as it used to be before everything moved out of there. There is a reason everything moved.
Is there a demand for market-rate apartments anywhere along 38th Street east of Fall Creek? Anywhere? …Bueller?
Neighbors are going to have to get over their phobia of housing in order for anything to pencil out. This is also wedged between the Blue Line and the Pennsy Trail. This is *exactly* where high concentrations of housing should go.
You’re talking about Irvington Plaza, 5 miles south of this Devington Plaza.
Oops! My bad!
Maybe the neighborhood could get the Lilly Endowment interested to help them pay for the non revenue generating ideas they have proposed.
While I appreciate that they want to be involved at some point someone needs to be able to do something there that makes economic since.
There was a reason Kroger closed at Devington Plaza.
Interesting read. The neighborhood knows what it wants and who it wants to design it-now they just need to get someone to pay for it. Seems logical.