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Indiana Avenue looks for revival: Cultural plan: stresses retail, residential growth, and a possible extension

Indiana Avenue looks for revival Cultural plan stresses retail, residential growth, and a possible extension Indiana Avenue’s glory days as a haven for black-owned businesses and vibrant nightclubs exists only in the history books. But a plan to revitalize the city’s newest cultural district could restore some of the luster. City leaders completed the blueprint for redevelopment early this year and now are in the early stages of executing a plan that organizers say could take 20 years to play…

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Colossal hotel pitched: $250M project features water park, 1,350 rooms

A development team this week plans to submit a proposal to the city to build a $250 million, 1,350-room hotel complex downtown on a site where a 235-room Courtyard by Marriott now stands. The project, just south of the entrance to White River State Park, would include a convention hotel with ballrooms; three smaller, more limited-service hotels; an indoor water park; and a 1,200-space underground parking garage. At 800 rooms, the convention hotel by itself would rank as the city’s…

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National City Center to get $11 million facelift: Projects include new Starbucks and restaurant

National City Center and anchor tenant Hyatt Regency Indianapolis plan to pump more than $11 million into the aging, 16-story building to boost its competitiveness with other downtown towers. The plans might grow to include connecting the building to the Artsgarden at the corner of Washington and Illinois streets. The Hyatt Regency, which occupies a wing of the National City Center, plans an $8.5 million renovation that will include the addition of 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a Starbucks…

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Shrinking neighborhood in path of Lilly’s progress: Drugmaker offers to buy rest of Little Valley homes

It’s called Lilly Valley for a reason. The official name of the modest neighborhood on the near-southwest side is Little Valley, but many people call it by the name of the pharmaceutical giant looming nearby. Eli Lilly and Co. has been gnawing away at the neighborhood south of Morris Street for several years to accommodate expansion at Lilly Technology Center just to the west along Kentucky Avenue. Now, Lilly is seeking city approval to take over more of the neighborhood,…

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INVESTING: Housing slowdown puts some homeowners in peril

You want to build your house on a strong foundation. It worked for the third little pig that resisted all the efforts of the big bad wolf. It’s also going to work for savvy consumers who avoid too much debt and build decent equity in their homes. For everyone else, though, the foundation might feel as if it is shaking a bit. A slew of recent data on the housing industry seems to confirm what the housing stocks have been…

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Health care developers eye their next frontier: Northeast Hamilton County offers a lucrative market

Chris Hamm’s phone started buzzing with calls from health care developers once plans for an extension of 146th Street east to Interstate 69 crystallized a couple years ago. The Noblesville economic development director said several organizations have shown “significant interest” in planting health care businesses along 146th Street, which will see a big boost in traffic once workers complete the interstate connection in the fall of 2007. At least three health-care-related deals are in the works, he added, declining to…

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Steel Dynamics seeks part of former Olin site: Metal recycling operation would serve expanding Hendricks County mill

The site of the former Olin Brass factory on the near-west side might soon roar to life again if a plan to erect a metal recycling operation there comes through. A joint venture between Fort Waynebased Steel Dynamics Inc., Chicagobased Metal Management Inc. and local hauler Ray’s Trash is seeking city approval to install a metal shredder and recycling operation on about 40 acres at Holt Road and Airport Expressway. The venture, called Metal Dynamics LLC, would accept scrap metal…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Mediocre planning efforts don’t invite people to stay

Analysts say the housing market is slowing in Indianapolis and across the nation. Perhaps that’s why three significant, real estate developments have attracted so much local media coverage recently. In one story, the City-County Council approved the development of 28 condos in Broad Ripple, despite strong resistance from the neighborhood association. Meanwhile, local planning councils easily approved two new developments-a subdivision on the far northeast side of town that will feature almost 2,000 homes and a large condominium complex in…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Kite’s quest to fix Glendale reverberates on Wall Street

N o r t h – s i d e r s aren’t alone in eagerly awaiting Glendale Mall’s redevelopment plan. Wall Street is watching what happens next, too. Glendale is the largest of the 40 retail properties Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Trust operates. The North Keystone Avenue shopping mall collects annual rent of $2.5 million, representing more than 4 percent of the company’s total. So what Kite will do with the ailing, 724,000-square-foot property was topic No. 1 last…

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Hearthview becomes church’s reluctant savior: Developer chooses ‘significant’ financial hit over wrecking ball

Condominium developer Hearthview Residential Inc. came out of a news conference this month looking like something of a hero for converting a former church at 802 N. Meridian St. into condos, but company officials must have been grinning through clenched teeth. Locally based Hearthview initially tried to demolish the 1905 structure, quietly seeking a demolition permit for the entire building. When the permit was discovered at the 11th hour by city and state historic preservation officials, the wheels were set…

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Mega-hotel on city agenda: Pan Am Plaza possible site for 800-room development

The city is looking for developers interested in adding 800 hotel rooms downtown, a project that could be accomplished by building a massive, new hotel or augmenting several existing facilities. Insiders say a new hotel is most likely. They picture it on Pan Am Plaza. If that happens, the hotel would become the city’s largest-eclipsing the Indianapolis Marriott by almost 200 rooms. Ideally, the rooms would be available by 2010, when the wraps come off the expanded Indiana Convention Center….

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INVESTING: Energy stocks had their run, but they may storm back

People don’t seem to spend as much time talking about high oil costs today as they did a year ago. Perhaps we’ve gotten used to them. Maybe the negative effects will be felt later. But one thing seems obvious: Energy stocks have recorded at least a short-term top. Let’s see what happens next. The incredible rise in oil over the last three years has turned up the volume in the debate over solutions. Washington passed an energy bill last summer,…

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INVESTING: The rise of derivatives: an innovation to cheer, not fear

After I read about a new futures contract at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that allows traders to place hedges on snowfall amounts in various areas, my first reaction was, that’s cool. I am a geek about my business, and I love the way the industry is constantly innovating. The weather contract is called a derivative, and I can remember not too long ago a lot of people were worried about derivatives. A derivative is a contract whose price is dependent…

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Breaking the glass ceiling: Despite gains, commercial real estate field still dominated by men

As a business student at IUPUI in the late 1980s, Jill M. Herron worked part-time as a leasing agent for a commercial real estate company to earn extra money. She had no idea that her parttime job would turn into a lifetime career. “I fell into it by accident,” Herron said. “But I found I liked the diversity of the job, the opportunity to meet different types of people and the challenges of meeting a client’s goals.” Now a vice…

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You can take it to the bank: Financial experts say state’s economy is rising, merger mania isn’t over and regulatory laws could take a toll

On Feb. 24, IBJ Publisher Chris Katterjohn, Managing Editor Greg Andrews and banking reporter Matt Kish sat down with four leaders from Indianapolis’ banking and finance sector: Judith Ripley, director of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions; Kit Stolen, CEO of Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis; Steve Beck, president and CEO of the Indiana Venture Center; and Keith Slifer, senior vice president of LaSalle Bank. Among the topics of conversation: How’s the state’s economy doing? Are more bank mergers on…

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City gives MSA developers another extension: Slow winter for sales center prompts 90-day delay

The developers of the former Market Square Arena site this month touted an expected August groundbreaking for their high-rise condominium project, but glossed over the 90-day extension to its agreement with the city that was required to make that possible. Developers of One Market Square a year ago negotiated an extension that gave them until May 1, 2006, to close on their purchase from the city of the first two acres of the four-acre site. In February, that deadline was…

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NOTIONS Bruce Hetrick: Yes, Mama, it’s OK to let your baby study liberal arts

Bruce Hetrick is on vacation this week. In his absence,this column,which appeared on March 17, 2003, is being reprinted. Last summer, an Indiana University English professor sent me an e-mail. It said that she and her colleagues were creating a new course called “Careers in English.” Its premise: One might do something with an English degree besides teach English. As they planned their curriculum, the instructors searched for an appropriate textbook. When they couldn’t find one, they decided to create…

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How Family Friendly is: Duke Realty Corp.: Locally based, publicly traded, commercial real estate firm

Duke Realty Corp. Locally based, publicly traded, commercial real estate firm Flexible work arrangements Duke managers support flexible work arrangements whenever possible. Some associates work flexible hours, compressed workweeks, part-time schedules or take advantage of part-time telecommuting. Child care Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts are offered and allow associates to set aside money on a before-tax basis through payroll deductions to cover daycare expenses. Family leave/military leave Eligible associates may take FMLA leave up to 12 weeks. Employees can also…

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Landlord wants tenants who share NFP mission: Foundation will give priority to health-related charities

Indianapolis not-for-profits grappling with rising rents may soon have another option-leasing space from one of their own. Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis bought the former St. Mary’s Catholic School in September and has undertaken $2.5 million in renovations expected to be complete by year-end. A diverse group of for-profit tenants-everyone from architects to violinmakers-already occupy about 80 percent of the 38,000-square-foot building at 429 E. Vermont St. But when the time comes to fill vacant space in The Academy, the…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: Bill offers new hope for Main Street

Recycling isn’t just good for the environment. It’s good for buildings, and ultimately for economic development. When the Disciples of Christ moved its international headquarters downtown from Irvington in 1995, it left behind a 121,000-square-foot structure built in 1910 that could easily have become a vacant eyesore in the east-side neighborhood. Instead, local developer Mansur Real Estate Services Inc. helped give it new life as Mission Apartments for seniors. That $6.5 million project might not have happened without the help…

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