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A local developer wants to transform a pair of parking lots at the southeast corner of 18th and Illinois streets—about a block east of Methodist Hospital—into a 195-unit apartment project.
Arrow Street Development plans to build two five-story buildings—each with ground-floor parking garages—as a single complex called Wesley Place, according to filings with the city of Indianapolis.
The addresses for the proposed project are 1630 and 1752 N. Meridian St., although they are physically located along adjacent Illinois Street. The parcels on which the structures would be built are currently owned by Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Broadcasting Media Center LLC and 1776 Real Estate LLC, respectively.
According to filings, the buildings would include a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units, with average rents targeting households earning 80% to 120% of the area median income, including professionals working nearby. The project also is adjacent to the route of the Red Line, which the developer said it hopes its residents will utilize.
“The concept of redeveloping underutilized surface parking lots along the Red Line that are adjacent to the economic engine that is [the hospital] initially attracted our team to the site,” the developer said in one of the filings.
“Our goal is for Wesley Place to kick-start private development in the district while generating new property taxes that can support community development initiatives in the area,” the developer said.
Employees at the hospital and nearby public broadcaster WFYI are expected to be among the target pool for the development.
The north building is expected to be about 33,850 square feet with 123 units and a 65-space parking garage, along with amenities for residents in both structures. It’s expected to feature 25 studios, 74 one-bedroom units and 24 two-bedroom units.
The south building would have 72 units—split between 18 studios, 34 one-bedrooms and 20 two-bedroom units—and 50 parking spaces in 21,822 square feet.
Another 14 off-alley parking spaces would be available along Pierson Street, a narrow thoroughfare between Illinois and Meridian Streets.
The buildings are not expected to be physically connected, with each having its own courtyard on the second level. The north building, however, would feature about 5,000 square feet of amenities available for use by residents of either building, including a coffee bar, a fitness facility and indoor bike storage.
Wesley Place’s name is a nod to the first hotel in the area, called the Wesley Hotel, which itself was named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. That hotel was eventually used as a residence hall for nurses at Methodist Hospital.
Rodney Byrnes, president of Arrow Street, told IBJ the firm hopes to begin construction on the Wesley in 2020, but said he couldn’t offer much detail about the project—such as the cost of the development—until it “takes shape over the next few months.”
On Jan. 9, the project is expected to go before the Marion County Hearing Examiner, which will consider Arrow Street’s request to rezone the property from commercial uses to MU-2, which allows for mixed-use developments including apartment projects.
The designer on the project is CSO Architects, with assistance from Context Design.
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The ground-floor parking garage trend is something that needs to be shut down quickly. This looks like it could be solid transit-oriented development, but the ground-level parking is a deal-breaker (if it’s facing the street with no other active uses).
Underground parking would likely destroy the economics of the project. From the rendering, it does appear that the parking garage will have tall enough ceilings to eventually be converted to additional units or commercial as the need for parking decreases over the next couple of decades.