We need a return to the type of civic responsibility and corporate investment that rebuilt Monument Circle, re-envisioned Circle Centre, and empowered employees to get involved in the downtown civic ecosystem.
Our lived experience is in stark contrast to the thinly veiled insulting words some nonresidents use to describe our neighborhoods and the business environment as of late.
It will take a collaborative effort from city officials, public safety, business owners and creatives to provide access to small-business owners and investors like myself who want to grow downtown and move forward, together.
To build on the attractiveness of the downtown residential sector, we should invest more in the kind of quality-of-life amenities we enjoy and seek out in other cities, like parks and open spaces, playgrounds, public art and public restrooms.
This means investments in affordable housing, new work opportunities, public safety, and enhancing downtown’s appearance and attractiveness.
According to crime data for the Mile Square over the past three years—the only such data available that includes figures for 2022—violent incidents are down from the pandemic peak years of 2020 and 2021 in all categories except robberies, which were up 43%, from 56 to 80.
The developer plans to put a 20,000-seat soccer stadium for the Indy Eleven right along the White River, which is on the western edge of the former Diamond Chain manufacturing site.
Elanco Animal Health CEO Jeff Simmons says Indianapolis faces “significant realities” it must tackle to become a destination for talent, companies and innovators.
There is a growing concern that downtown’s appeal and vibrancy is waning and that something must be done.
City officials plan to pour at least $10 million into structural and aesthetic improvements to five CSX railroad overpasses and the sidewalks and roads that run beneath them on the south side of downtown.
Speaking during a luncheon hosted by the Economic Club of Indiana on Wednesday, Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons addressed downtown’s struggles with homelessness, infrastructure, talent attraction and retention, and real estate.
The building’s 58,800 square feet of office and retail space is now mostly vacant, following exits in recent years by Scotty’s Brewhouse, HomeAdvisor and third-party logistics company Backhaul Direct.
New York City-based SomeraRoad Inc. has submitted plans to city officials for Stutz South, a five-story complex with 270 apartments that would occupy most of the block between West Ninth and 10th streets and Capitol Avenue and Roanoke Street.
Howdy Homemade Ice Cream’s goal is to provide more jobs to people with an intellectual or developmental disability. But it also wants to help other employers see people with disabilities as a dependable workforce.
Officials with New York City-based SomeraRoad Inc. told IBJ the company is in the pre-development phase of at least two projects on land adjacent to the multi-building Stutz complex at 1060 Capitol Ave., which is in the midst of a $100 million renovation.
The 18-month effort is expected to boost the number of bike patrol officers, security cameras, cleaning crews and those helping the homeless in the Mile Square.
Five of 20 downtown hotel projects announced before the pandemic have opened. But few of the remaining 15 have made substantive progress, despite a strong rebound in the district’s hotel occupancy rates.
TWG Development expects to spend $56.5 million to build Bakery Living, a six-story, 201-unit apartment project at 1331 E. Washington St., just east of its redevelopment of a Ford Motor Co. assembly plant.
The development team hopes to land a single office tenant to occupy most of the building, although the first floor could also consist of retail or other commercial uses.
Direct Connect has about 250 employees based in Indianapolis, with plans to hire an additional 150 workers by the end of 2023.
