8D: GM Stamping Plant Redevelopment

Value to the Community

The GM Stamping Plant site offers the opportunity for economic development that strengthens our local economy and provides a new type of neighborhood development and an expansion of parkland along the White River. This neighborhood can help attract new residents and revitalize the broader Valley and West Indy neighborhoods. It can also improve transportation connections into downtown by better connecting the Harding Street interchange, making it easier to get into the west side of downtown and providing an alternative to the West Street bottleneck.

Value to the Hospitality Industry

The headquarters opportunity afforded by such a site so close to downtown can help drive future business travel, while the opportunity for increased recreational, arts and culture, and mixed-use development provide a new neighborhood attraction for all visitors. Improved transportation connections can also improve access to the Convention District and downtown's west side, alleviating pressure on West Street.

Updates

• April 2022. Elanco Groundbreaking. Elanco broke ground on its new 40 acre global headquarters, releasing updated plans and images for its campus, which will include a new multimodal Henry Street bridge over White River.
• July 2021. City-County Council Approves Bonds. The City-County Council approved $135M in bonds to support infrastructure and development of the Elanco HQ proposal.
• December 2020. Elanco Global HQ Announced. Animal health company Elanco announced plans to relocate to the GM site as part of a $300m investment in Indiana. The HQ will occupy 45-65 acres of the property. Ten acres of riverfront will become an expansion of White River State Park, while a new Henry Street bridge and a new pedestrian bridge are proposed to enhance connectivity to the downtown core. This announcement resolves ongoing litigation related to the abandoned Waterside development.
• November 2019. Oliver Avenue Bridge Reconstruction. The City of Indianapolis completed rehabilitation of the Oliver Street Bridge including protected wide sidewalks connecting the GM Stamping Plant site to downtown.
• September 2019. Waterside Plans Scrapped. Ambrose Property Group suspended development plans for the entire Waterside development as it announced a company strategic refocus. After announcing the sale of 12 acres of property to the Indianapolis Zoo and soliciting offers for the remaining property, the City of Indianapolis announced intentions to pursue acquisition of the site, including through the use of eminent domain if necessary. A judge rules the City of Indianapolis cannot pursue eminent domain until ongoing legal disputes with with Ambrose Property Group are resolved.
• May 2019. Design Competition and MultiFamily Development. Ambrose Property Group, in partnership with CICF and Exhibit Columbus, publicly launches a design competition for reuse of the Crane Bay structure, a new civic plaza, pedestrian bridge, and public realm plan. Three finalists, Hood Design Studio (Oakland), SCAPE (NYC), and Snohetta (NYC) will compete. Gene B. Glick Company announces it will build and manage the first multi-family buildings at Waterside at a development cost of $45m.