Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
One of the last undeveloped sites in the ritzy town of Meridian Hills on the north side of Indianapolis has been acquired after nearly five years on the market.
The nine-parcel, largely wooded property at the northwest corner of Meridian Street and Meridian Hills Boulevard was purchased for an undisclosed price on June 20 by an Indianapolis-based holding company, which plans to develop several homes on the lots.
The 4.3-acre property is directly north of the Meridian Hills Country Club golf course and catercorner to the tony Arden neighborhood.
Meridian Pointe LLC, comprised of siblings Howard and Cathi Weiner, bought the land and expects to build at least four speculative homes on the westernmost lots of the property through a partnership with Carmel-based luxury home developer Sigma Builders LLC. Libby Somerville and Steve Clifton with the Indianapolis office of Compass Realty will market those homes, each of which is expected to offer at least 4,000 square feet with asking prices well over $500,000.
Howard Weiner, an Indianapolis native who now develops commercial properties in Chicago, declined to disclose the terms of the property acquisition when contacted by IBJ. The site originally was listed for $1.9 million in late 2018.
The purchase and subsequent plan to develop the property is “meant to execute what was originally planned over 30 years ago,” when the site was platted into 10 parcels, Weiner said. (One parcel has already been developed.)
The remaining five lots—all with frontage along Meridian Street—will be marketed for purchase through broker Mike Johnson with the Indianapolis office of Encore Sotheby’s International Realty.
Weiner said some of the Meridian-facing lots could be combined to form larger properties for would-be buyers.
Many homes in the 1.7-square-mile Meridian Hills enclave are valued at more than $1 million, and the median household income is $164,167—triple that of Indianapolis as a whole.
Development of homes in Meridian Hills began about a century ago. The town incorporated in 1937 and today has about 1,800 residents and 715 homes, according to its website.
Weiner said work on the perimeter of the property—including preliminary work on a new walking path—will start July 5, with Sigma beginning work on the first of the speculative homes by October. He said there would be a concerted effort to preserve as many of the property’s mature trees as possible, following consultation with an arborist.
Meridian Pointe LLC bought the property from Eagle Standard LLC, a holding company that had been owned by Elizabeth Johnson and immediate family members, including her son John Johnson. John Johnson, who managed the limited-liability company’s assets on the family’s behalf, died in 2021. Elizabeth Johnson died in 2022.
State records show Eagle Standard is now managed by Zionsville trust attorney Roger L. Burrus.
Bo Leffel, a land broker with the Indianapolis office of Cushman & Wakefield, represented Eagle Standard on the sale. Chris Helft, a land broker with the Indianapolis office of Toronto-based Avison Young, represented Meridian Pointe.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Interesting. But, there is way more history to that property that would be fun to know. do you plan on researching more and sharing? For example, back in the 60s, it was a vacant ‘haunted house’ that teenagers would visit at night to get the living —- scared out of them.
Labelling this site as “Prime” is generous unless your idea of never being able to turn left to go north on Meridian or east on 71st is ideal on two very busy roads.
I turn left onto Meridian from William’s Creek every day. It’s never a problem.
These are going to be $1M+ homes.
The real estate market in this area has just exploded. Just down the street in William’s Creek, people have been buying old houses for ~$1M, only to tear the house down and build bigger. There are currently no houses for sale in William’s Creek, but the demand for William’s Creek has spilled into surrounding parts of Meridian Hills.
1+
It seems a shame for the current developers to want to build ‘spec’ homes, when each buyer could choose their own architects and home design. If one looks at the larger Meridian Hills area, as well as Williams Creek, most all are custom designed to fit the site and not some contrived developer built idea. Also, if the trees and woods are to be really integrated with, a high end Landscape Architect would be much more beneficial than an arborist.
“Spec home” is a loose term here. Believe me these properties will be custom all throughout. If I’m building a million dollar home it’s going to be different than my neighbors!
Please share much more history on that property. I’ve heard many stories over the years but have always wanted to know the real history.
I agree with previous comments to use a landscape architect and individual builders. Homes in so many planned communities all have a sameness about them. I do hope they will preserve the maximum number of trees to fit in with neighboring properties and communities. The more greenery, the better for the planet and for noise reduction as well as for aesthetics. Otherwise that corner can lower the values of all others nearby.
My fingers are crossed that that corner still retains Mother Nature as it’s most important resident.
Eagle Standard owned all but of the nine parcels bounded by North Meridian Street, 72nd Street, and Meridian Hills Boulevard. The smallest lot is assessed for tax purposes at $81,800 while the largest is assessed at $120,900 (the total combined assessments of all the vacant lots is currently $933,500).
Land prices aside (and not including the expense of costly site preparation), constructing 4,000 square foot “high-end” dwellings at a modest $250 per square foot comes in at $1,000,000 each. I’m guessing the homes will be listed closer to the $2 million price, which covers not only the build costs but also acquisition of the lots, preparation of the site, and developer profits. By way of comparison, the new homes that have been built on the northeast corner of Spring Mill Road and 82nd Street have tax assessments of a million dollars and more despite being on much smaller lots.
Excuse me, but I think real estate articles that use adjectives like ritzy and tony are really cheesy. Velveeta!