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The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says it’s keeping its options open for the sale of a large chunk of the former General Motors stamping plant site along the White River, after a summertime effort failed to secure a commitment for the property.
The IEDC issued a request for proposals on April 22 in hopes of selling 51 acres along the White River by the end of September, ideally to a master developer that would oversee complete development of the site through its own projects and other partnerships. The amount of available land now is 46 acres.
The IEDC bought the 91-acre stamping plant site in 2020 for $25.5 million from Ambrose Property Group. Elanco Animal Health Inc. acquired 8 acres to develop a new corporate headquarters, which now is under construction. Elanco also has the rights to purchase another 17 acres.
Mark Wasky, senior vice president and special counsel to the Secretary of Commerce, told IBJ last week that the request for proposals “generated a pretty significant amount of interest in the property,” but none of the formal and informal responses from local and national developers met all of the IEDC’s expectations.
Wasky declined to disclose the asking price for the land, but he said it was an obstacle for developers.
Economic development leaders want the 46 acres to be developed as the OneHealth Innovation District—a partnership between Elanco, Purdue University and the Indiana Economic Development Corp.—for research in human, animal and plant health sciences. Elanco’s headquarters would be the anchor of the district.
That could include biotech and life sciences offices, research facilities and even production. Or it could mean collaborative research or joint projects between companies and universities.
Already, Purdue, Elanco and the IEDC have agreed to develop a shared-use facility on 3 acres near the Elanco building. The facility will include office, wet lab and incubator space.
Wasky said the state is continuing to discuss potential land sales with “a number of firms,” noting that the IEDC is “keeping our options open” until a deal is finalized. He said the entirety of the available land would likely not be purchased by a single entity, but be split among two or more firms that would develop individual sites based on agreements with the agency.
IEDC officials said the agency has spent about $76 million on infrastructure and site development since acquiring the former stamping plant site. That work has included the removal of a large concrete pad, as well as construction of new roads and sidewalks that’s underway.
“Obviously, we’re trying to recoup as much of the original purchase price as possible with the investment that we made,” Wasky said. “We are thinking about ways that we can further recoup the overall costs, maybe a little bit longer term, but a way to make sure that the state is, at a minimum, made whole. Some of that is going to be indirect, maybe not in the value of the land, but in the value of the activity and the wages that are getting paid by employers.”
Wasky said the uncertainty around the future of the long-proposed Eleven Park project on the opposite bank of the White River, a $1.5 billion development that had been expected to feature a 20,000-seat soccer stadium, has affected the available stamping plant land.
Wasky said Eleven Park’s limbo hasn’t necessarily dimmed interest in the GM stamping plant site, but he noted that appraisals for the property were done with the mixed-use development on the east side of the river in mind.
Construction on the $43 million Henry Street Bridge project connecting the stamping plant site to the southwest quadrant of downtown is expected to begin this week. But it remains unclear whether Indianapolis-based Keystone Group will move ahead with plans to complete excavation of the former Diamond Chain site where Eleven Park had been intended to go.
The city earlier this year said it was moving ahead with an alternative site for a soccer stadium.
Correction: The amount of acreage that Elanco Animal Health Inc. now possesses for its headquarters project on the former GM stamping plant site is 8 acres, and it has rights to acquire another 17 acres. An earlier version of this story said that Elanco had 45 acres on the site. You can see all of our corrections here.
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The Keystone/Eleven/Greenlawn site across the river should be turned incorporated into a ‘History of Indianapolis, Industrialization, and Urban Affairs’ museum.
The main structure of such a museum should be built on the Citizens/AES parking lot, and give museum go-ers a live look at: 1) The inner-workings of Indianapolis’ steam utility, which is supposedly the biggest in the country outside of NYC; and 2) The elevated RR tracks leading into Union Station, which was the country’s first Union Station (although the current building isn’t the original terminal) & was once the 2nd or 3rd busiest train station in the Midwest.
The Greenlawn Site should be used to tell the story of how Indianapolis was founded along the banks of the White River, and respectfully tell the stories of Indianapolis’ pioneers who are buried on the site. This should be an outdoors part of the museum that interacts with the riverfront, and parts of it could even be interactive – like an urban version of Connor Prairie.
There are so many stories to tell in this underutilized portion of Downtown. A truly world class museum could be built.
I agree that a modern unique archtrcture design with metal and sleek glass museume would fit perfect on the site. Something with a signature design that draws international attention and tourist. Indy needs to built something bold that also tells Indys unique story and history. Other cites tend to be more creative with projects like this.
Not sure nor believe the math in this article.
91 acres minus 45 equals 46 not 51?
Also sounds like IEDC gave Elanco the 45 acres?…did they not pay for it?
IEDC spent $76M on infrastructure after a $25.5M purchase, and the city wants to spend $43M or more on a bridge to nowhere.!?
So right now our governments are in for $144.5 Million. ?
No surprise any developers are not willing to get involved is this scenario.
Indy already has two zones of the city focused on “health sciences” anchors: the Lilly HQ, plus 16Tech with the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute. We don’t need to buy another one.
Housing would be a nice addition to this site. Great views to downtown.
WIth in a few miles of this proposed museum site is the Indiana State Museum. If we’re to build a tax payer funded museum, would it make more sense to put it near the ISM? And the Eiteljorg, and NCAA. If we did, maybe someone would actually visit while walking around White River and Military Parks.
And really, what is this preoccupation with shiny steel and glass? Would that actually reflect the history of Indianapolis? What about brick and limestone? Maybe some timber? Things that reflect what early Hoosiers had for building materials.
Housing. For whom? For the rich and famous? I’m guessing you’re probably not looking for low income housing to expand Haughville. Do we really need one more shiny upper income neighborhood constructed with tax abatement deals that burden the city with responsibilities but no revenue stream.
Housing for young professionals, college students and low income.
I am sure Hogsett and the Metropolitan Development Commission will be sure to torpedo any creative, forward thinking development of the site.