Indianapolis Development News

[GarfieldPark]

Regarding designing a 50 story building on a platform -- Yes, it can be done. Doing it "well" is a lot more difficult though - especially with the size of the property that it is proposed to be built on. With a half block of land to build on, I think two or three connected mid-rise buildings would work better to fill the property - as opposed to one tall and most likely relatively skinny one. If they're going to go 50 floors - they're not going to build two towers that tall - just one. If you break it up into a few towers, you could get 52 floors in a 24 story tower, a 16 story building, and a 12 story mixed use base building. A 52 story building would likely end up being just one tall tower on top of a larger base (most likely primarily made up of parking - "hidden" behind a facade that is supposed to somehow look "urban"). Some of the parking for a project consisting of a mix of mid-rise buildings would definitely need to be underground -- with perhaps a bit more built behind some of the lower floor uses, located along the alley side, "behind" the complex of buildings - hidden as well as possible. Ideally this might be a place to try to use zip cars more effectively. This should be walk and bike territory for a majority of a lot of the residents' trips.

I can see a lot of people wanting to live downtown in an apartment where they are on the 8th to the 20th floor or so. You can see the city well - and you're not so high that you're separated from the city life below. Realistically, a 50 story tower will help the downtown look cool from three or four miles away - but a more dense cluster of mid-rise buildings will work best for keeping the residents connected to the street life and the "humanism" of the downtown - as Michael Graves said in the Charlotte article.

Sure, a 50 story tower might be cool (and might look great from Crown Hill Cemetery) -- but I do think that continuing to densely fill in the downtown with pedestrian-friendly, mixed use, fronting-the-street mid-rises is the way to go. Mostly we're seeing buildings in the 4 - 8 story range for a lot of the new downtown projects - which is looking pretty good. For the MSA site, some 16 - 24 story buildings would be nice to see -- and maybe even up to 30 stories.

We'll see. Hopefully we'll find out what plan is selected within the next few weeks.

[cdc guy]

Originally Posted by GarfieldPark

Regarding designing a 50 story building on a platform -- Yes, it can be done. Doing it "well" is a lot more difficult though - especially with the size of the property that it is proposed to be built on. With a half block of land to build on, I think two or three connected mid-rise buildings would work better to fill the property - as opposed to one tall and most likely relatively skinny one. If they're going to go 50 floors - they're not going to build two towers that tall - just one. If you break it up into a few towers, you could get 52 floors in a 24 story tower, a 16 story building, and a 12 story mixed use base building. A 52 story building would likely end up being just one tall tower on top of a larger base (most likely primarily made up of parking - "hidden" behind a facade that is supposed to somehow look "urban"). Some of the parking for a project consisting of a mix of mid-rise buildings would definitely need to be underground -- with perhaps a bit more built behind some of the lower floor uses, located along the alley side, "behind" the complex of buildings - hidden as well as possible. Ideally this might be a place to try to use zip cars more effectively. This should be walk and bike territory for a majority of a lot of the residents' trips.

I can see a lot of people wanting to live downtown in an apartment where they are on the 8th to the 20th floor or so. You can see the city well - and you're not so high that you're separated from the city life below. Realistically, a 50 story tower will help the downtown look cool from three or four miles away - but a more dense cluster of mid-rise buildings will work best for keeping the residents connected to the street life and the "humanism" of the downtown - as Michael Graves said in the Charlotte article.

Sure, a 50 story tower might be cool (and might look great from Crown Hill Cemetery) -- but I do think that continuing to densely fill in the downtown with pedestrian-friendly, mixed use, fronting-the-street mid-rises is the way to go. Mostly we're seeing buildings in the 4 - 8 story range for a lot of the new downtown projects - which is looking pretty good. For the MSA site, some 16 - 24 story buildings would be nice to see -- and maybe even up to 30 stories.

We'll see. Hopefully we'll find out what plan is selected within the next few weeks.

Your proposed mix of mid-rises will still need a full-block parking pedestal as a base for the development. Remember that the current surface lots are effectively the public parking for City Market, the Y, LISC/Platfom, and the CCB/courts. Even if urbanists are anti-parking, reality is that the county seat requires public parking next door.

Underground parking is expensive (both capital and operating) in Downtown. The water table is high, so a "bathtub" is required to minimize infiltration of groundwater. Sump pumps are a necessity. Then, the storm sewers are shallow, and so one must "drain" a deep garage uphill when surface runoff and rain get in. More special engineering and pumping.

[cdc guy]

Originally Posted by GarfieldPark

Progress seems to be occurring related to finding a site for downtown's Firehouse # 7 to move - to allow the Mass Ave site to be redeveloped as 235 apartments and commercial uses. The Red Cross looks close to moving to a new location at 1510 N. Meridian (the former site of Payton Wells Chevrolet).

http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...from-Mass-Ave-

Grr. As a Center Township/Old City taxpayer, I'd rather the American Red Cross decamp to north of 96th on Meridian. Or a Fishers office park. That Payton Wells parcel needs to stay on the tax rolls...as a commercial or residential use.

That's a nice node forming from 14th to 18th between Alabama and Capitol...hardware, banks, offices, doctors, dentists, hospital, drugstores, bars & restaurants (ok, two gay bars and mostly fast food), the public TV & NPR stations, some affordable apartments, some condos, a good high school. In the old days, we called such places...downtown.

That site should be a grocery store; probably would require the old Fox59 site too, plus some Sandor land just to the rear of Walgreen's. Kroger (or Marsh or Meijer or Fresh Market) could locate its store there, take over the existing ratty-ass Shell at 16th/Illinois. Voila...a neighborhood of choice, and a grocery/gas site to please Kroger.