5B: Support Downtown Residential Development
While we often think of downtown as a collection of visitors and commuting workers, it has been one of the fastest growing residential neighborhoods in Indy in recent years. In turn, this has supported an increasing mix of retail and restaurant offerings as well as things like grocery and hardware stores. Support the continued diversification of downtown to include dense residential uses at a variety of price points, including attainable workforce housing for the hospitality industry. Consideration in planning and investment must also compliment the needs of a large-scale event city like outdoor festival noise, traffic, or street closures.
Value to the Community
Downtown neighborhoods provide a type of neighborhood unavailable anywhere else in the region, helping Indy remain competitive with other regions. An increase in the number of housing units attainable by downtown service sector employees reduces transportation costs for these workers and helps downtown remain a diverse neighborhood.Value to the Hospitality Industry
An increasing residential population base adds vitality to the downtown core at all hours of the day, supporting local businesses, keeping eyes on the street, and promoting interactions between visitors and locals. A healthy downtown economy is necessary to sustain the collection of visitor and cultural amenities it is home to.Updates
- January 2023. White Castle Redevelopment. Developers announced plans to transform an old White Castle distribution center on the Cultural Trail in Fountain Square into a new mixed-use building with 206 apartments.
- January 2023. Ivy Tech Building Redevelopment. Building on the successful conversion of a historic Ford factory next door, developers plan to replace an old Ivy Tech automotive facility with a new 200 unit mixed-use apartment building.
- August 2022. Cole Motor Redevelopment. A $120m redevelopment of the former Jail 2 and Arrestee Processing Center plans to turn the historic Cole Motor Car Company into a mix of apartments, child care center, co-working space, and a new 60,000 square foot concert and event venue.
- June 2022. City Market Redevelopment. A redevelopment team has been selected to transform the City Market block with $175m of investment. The iconic "Gold Building" and adjacent parking garage and office building will be redeveloped, while a new 11-story tower will be built on the site of City Market's dated east wing. In total more than 400 apartments, office and retail, and pedestrian-friendly alley will be built.
- May 2022. Office Tower Apartment Conversion Opens. The city's first major office to residential tower conversion was completed with the former ATT building at Ohio and Meridian Streets, originally built in 1974. The 23-story luxury apartment building will ultimately contain 267 apartments and was renovated for a cost of $80m.
- March 2021. Elevator Hill Apartments. The first new construction in the Elevator Hill redevelopment (former Angie's List campus) will bring 103 apartments to the center of campus.
Key Partners
Confirmed Partners
- Partnerships Under Development