IBJ Podcast: The latest on downtown soccer stadium, $78M Fever facility and Simon hotel/concert venue

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It’s time to unpack the latest developments in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to establish a Major League Soccer team in downtown Indianapolis. Among other things, the team needs a stadium to play in. The city earmarked about 16 acres in the southeast quadrant of the Mile Square and held discussions with MLS officials. We were left with a cliffhanger: Can the city get state approval for the taxing district that would help pay for the stadium?

That’s where we’ll kick off this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, but we’re going to cover much more ground in this sector of the Mile Square. That includes the newly announced, $78 million practice and training facility for the Indiana Fever, which will be developed less than a soccer pitch away from the prospective stadium site. In the other direction, the Fever facility will be catercorner to the campus containing Commission Row, Bicentennial Unity Plaza and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Fever and the Indiana Pacers. A block to the west of Gainbridge is the future site of a $312 million development that will include a high-end hotel and a 4,000-seat concert venue. The next step in the development process for that project has already begun.

What do many of these latest developments in the southeast quadrant of the Mile Square have in common? Real estate developer Herb Simon and his family, who own a majority stake in the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. In this week’s edition of the podcast, IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey walks us through all of the latest developments—or in some cases the lack of obvious progress—in this burgeoning sports, entertainment and hospitality sector of downtown.

Click here to find the IBJ Podcast each Monday. You can also subscribe at iTunesGoogle PlayTune In, Spotify and anyplace you find podcasts.

You can also listen to these recent episodes:

IBJ Podcast: Pete the Planner on Trump’s second term, rising inflation and the impact of the LA wildfires on housing

IBJ Podcast: Inside the mind of a rising Indy apartment developer

IBJ Podcast: Dave Lindquist previews can’t-miss entertainment in 2025

IBJ Podcast: Mission of Indy furniture maker ‘is about building other people up’

IBJ Podcast: Josef Newgarden, Indy 500 champ and avid investor, also races against S&P 500

IBJ Podcast: Why size matters when it comes to Indy concert venues

IBJ Podcast: Inside jeweler’s decision to close one of downtown’s oldest businesses

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