IBJ Podcast: The owner of Windsor Jewelry talks about surviving the riots and pandemic
Plus, hear from Mayor Joe Hogsett, who spoke to IBJ’s editorial board last month about some of the very problems Bires is concerned about for downtown.
Downtown
Articles
Kite Realty Group bets big on hotel, even as other projects wither
A third of planned downtown hotel rooms announced before the pandemic are now on hold.
Downtown restaurants, conventions could be stuck in downward spiral
The loss in convention business due to COVID-19 is starving downtown restaurants of customers. And without great restaurants, Indy isn’t as attractive as a convention destination.
Area ad agency adding 145 jobs, moving its HQ to downtown Indy even as industry shrinks overall
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered JDA Worldwide and its newly created parent company, Prolific, up to $2.2 million in tax credits to support its expansion plans.
IBJ Podcast: When will office workers return to downtown Indy?
IBJ reporters Samm Quinn and Anthony Schoettle spent a week talking with the leaders of downtown companies and learned that many are delaying plans to bring workers back to the office.
Speakeasy-style whiskey bar coming to Mass Ave
The historic Hammond Block building will be the second location for the bar that started in South Bend. Also this week: Fresh Thyme, The Empty Vase, Forever Gallery, Lily & Sparrow, Kits & Kaboodle and more.
ROUNDUP: JP Parker Flowers vacates Indy store, adds retail truck
The interruption in downtown convention business caused the closure. Also this week: Studio C, Tandoor & Tikka, Peppy Grill, The Fudge Kettle, 21st Amendment Wine & Spirits.
Dollar General to bring new urban-concept DGX store to Mass Ave
DGX represents a new direction for Dollar General, which has traditionally focused on small-town and rural locations. Also this week: Quaff ON!, Bru Burger, Jiffy Lube, Tire Discounters, 16 Bit Bar + Arcade.
Developer of $40M residential project in Chatham Arch eyes 2021 finish
Well under way after years of revisions and delays, Chatham Park is expected to include up to 55 condominiums, seven single-family homes, four duplexes and 2,200 square feet of retail space.
Fast-casual Mediterranean chain coming to Indy
Up to five more locations could open in the next 16 months. Also this week: The Black Acre Loft, Dave & Buster’s, Gold Leaf Savory & Sweet
Gaming lounge, others launching after pandemic delay
Press Play Gaming Lounge, Two Chicks District Co. and Bella Pizzeria are following through with plans announced before the shut-down. Punch Bowl Social, meanwhile, aims to reopen this fall.
IBJ Podcast: Should the city help pay for damage done to businesses downtown?
Host Mason King talks with Stadium Village Business Association President Erica Wells and Mayor Joe Hogsett’s chief of staff, Thomas Cook, about how the city can help downtown and downtown businesses rebuild after the one-two punch of coronavirus and riots.
Mayor Hogsett has no plans to extend curfew after weekend without violence, vandalism
The curfews were a reaction to violence, looting and vandalism that occurred downtown the previous weekend, following peaceful protests about racial inequality and police actions against African Americans.
Deborah Daniels: After a weekend in crisis, city has huge challenges to confront
The most significant theft that has occurred is not that of liquor or merchandise; the looters, by their actions, are stealing the credibility of the good people peacefully protesting a lengthy history of opportunity denied to people of color and those without means.
Erica Wells: We need proactive leadership, rather than reactive decisions
Decisions are impossible to make when leadership fails to listen to the community; fails to communicate a comprehensive plan; and falls into a reactive, not proactive, stance on protecting our community.
Vop Osili: Riots must shake us out of the status quo
We can and will address the concerns of citizens and business owners grappling with the damage to public and private spaces caused by last weekend’s violence. But we cannot do so without simultaneously wrestling, and besting, the historically tolerated race disparities that lie at the heart of that violence.
Perspectives: How we got here—and what comes next
It’s hard to find words for the horror that is the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, just as it is hard to comprehend how the anger over that death—and too many others—led to so much destruction in downtown Indianapolis. But IBJ asked several community leaders to give it a shot. Here’s what they wrote.
Pandemic, violence put Indy downtown at crossroads
The one-two punch of the pandemic and protest-related violence raises questions about whether downtown can recover. Experts and community leaders say yes—but only with concerted effort and strong leadership.
Scrappy WISH-TV throws passion, resources into covering chaos
WISH usually has one crew on Saturday nights, but on May 30, it had four. WISH went live outside its normal newscasts more than any other station—which is easier for it to do than any other station because it lacks a major network affiliation.
With boards covering windows, downtown businesses embrace artwork
Several business owners in the city’s central business district and others along Massachusetts Avenue have enlisted staff members and local artists to paint murals and messages on the plywood covering the facades of riot-damaged buildings.