New life for Whole Foods plan?
An Atlanta firm is hoping to revive the development of a Whole Foods grocery at the northwest corner of 86th Street and Keystone Avenue. Dominion Capital, which took over the site…
Real Estate
Articles
Developer betting on cottage homes
Buyers in Seattle, Milwaukee and even Bloomington have snapped up new cottage homes in developments that
turn the McMansion trend on its dormer-decorated head. But will Indianapolis buyers have a similar appetite
for the tiny energy-efficient homes clustered around community greens? A local developer is betting they
will.
INVESTING: Distressed assets today lead to profit tomorrow
Two real estate guys told me recently that the market might be able to grab some traction if the banks would face reality about the true worth of the stuff on their books. Write-offs are large, with an estimated $450 billion written down worldwide this year to date. And if you make an offer for real estate that is less than what the bank has written it down to, most likely your offer will be rejected. The bank is still…
Light reading + who is closing
Let’s start with some real estate news from this week’s IBJ in print:
Charter Homes owner Jerry Jaquess fancies himself a white knight for King Park, a neighborhood once known…
Paramount Tower plan shrinks
Developers are taking a new approach to a student housing project proposed for a 2.3-acre parking lot a few blocks east of the Central Canal….
Charter Homes builder draws scrutiny for odd sales claims, multiple liens
Charter Homes owner Jerry Jaquess fancies himself a white knight for King Park, a neighborhood once known mainly for its
rampant crime, boarded-up homes and vacant lots. But as he’s constructed a slew of homes and carriage houses there, the local
builder has stirred up several lawsuits, dozens of liens and persistent questions about whether his business is legit.
No-bid contract lets local firm suggest sales or sale-leasebacks of city property
The Mayor’s Office has quietly agreed to consider selling some of the city’s more than 1,100 properties, including police stations, maintenance buildings and parks, in a bid to raise cash to help balance the budget. The city awarded the potentially lucrative no-bid contract to Venture Real Estate Services, a politically connected real estate firm led by John Bales.
Apartments planned for old school
The former Paul C. Stetson School northeast of Fall Creek Parkway and College Avenue could soon find new life as a 47-unit senior apartment complex….
City orders BW3 work to stop
Workers were trying to figure out what to do next after the city’s compliance department issued a stop-work order this morning on the new Buffalo Wild Wings. The order threatens a $2,500 fine for any company or individual found in…
BW3 defies city’s request
Buffalo Wild Wings has responded to the city’s beef with its Washington Street façade by submitting a new plan showing the exact design it already constructed. The…
Insurance firm plans new HQ
McGowan Insurance Group plans to build a new 19,000-square-foot headquarters on a triangle-shaped property at 340 N. Capitol Ave. where an ealier proposal called for 30 condos and a bank….
Billboard blight or billboard rights?
UPDATE: The Metropolitan Development Commission overturned the billboard approval, and the city now is looking into whether the existing sign is legal.
The city’s planning staff is challenging a Board of Zoning…
Appraisers’ role in the meltdown
Some of the people most familiar with the mortgage foreclosure explosion in the Indianapolis area in recent
years have privately pointed fingers at appraisers.
Appraisers too often were in cahoots with lenders to illegally inflate prices of houses, the insiders complained,…
Leading Edge ready to expand its territory: South-side real estate player eyes regional growth
The signs for Leading Edge Commercial Real Estate Services are hard to miss on the south side. And soon, they could be popping up all over central Indiana. The 3-year-old, Greenwood-based brokerage firm has grown from three employees to 14 and now is looking at adding two new offices, including one on the north side. The firm has more than 120 listings, up from about 60 at the start, mostly for office leasing and sales of smaller commercial properties. The…
Developer pegs Plainfield for spec office building: Local real estate brokers question potential demand
Now a developer is banking on a new roadway and airport terminal to attract office tenants, although some brokers familiar with the area aren’t sold on the idea. The local office of Chicago-based Verus Partners LLC finished purchasing 200 acres along the east side of the Reagan Parkway and plans to build a 60,000-square-foot, two-story speculative office building. Verus’ mixed-use office and industrial park is called GreenParke at Airwest and could be ready for occupancy by next summer. Infrastructure work…
Huguenard a billion-dollar broker: Senior vice president at Colliers one of the nation’s top deal-makers
John E. Huguenard is on a roll. He’s got $1 billion in active industrial listings and is on track to top his $700 million deal volume from last year. The low-key super-broker for the local office of commercial real estate powerhouse Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has closed 17 deals worth a total of $250 million already this year. And that’s no fluke: Huguenard, 45, has sold or leased more than 100 million square feet of industrial property in more than…
Slump leaves empty feeling for subdivision residents: Developers struggling to finish what they started
The marketing material for the Sedona Woods community in Fishers boasts that once word gets out, home lots are sure to sell out quickly. In hindsight, the statement couldn’t have been further off the mark. Roughly four years later, the subdivision that ultimately was to contain hundreds of homes built by Davis Homes LLC remains unfinished. And now, after the local builder ceased operations in late July, completion could take even longer. Sedona Woods at Promise Road and 136th Street…
Murky motive adds intrigue to Old National loan saga
In the buttoned-down world of banking, it doesn't get much stranger than this: An Indianapolis loan officer with a strong reputation is suddenly dismissed after his employer charges he falsified lending documents. The bank says the fraud exposes it to potential losses approaching $20 million. And here's the kicker: The employer hasn't accused the banker of committing the wrongdoing for personal gain.
VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: An open letter to the commercial lending community
Dear lenders: Perhaps you have seen the recent headlines that declared suburban Indianapolis among the best places in the country to live and raise a family. Perhaps you’ve also taken note that there are a lot of things happening in our communities. Big projects abound in the Indi anapolis area, including Lucas Oil Stadium and the Midfield Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. People are so excited about the new stadium they lined up for hours trying to get a tour…
Nordstrom new north-side store targets tonier shoppers
Come Sept. 19, Nordstrom Inc.’s got a brand new bag–and, well, shoes, hat and ensemble to match–as the department store
opens a second Indianapolis location, in the Fashion Mall at Keystone. Residing in Parisian’s former quarters,
the new store is poised to burnish the mall’s reputation as the region’s highest-end shopping destination.