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Indianapolis Development News

2M views 15K replies 189 participants last post by  vitamin R 
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#13,201 ·
Just noticed that I can now start to see the new 10 story apartment building on the north canal starting to come out of the ground as I look in that direction from one of the offices here at work. It must be at least the second floor that they are working on now - because I saw the first floor out of the ground a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to check in person -- it may be the third floor by now. It looks like wood construction - which is strange. That wouldn't be happening for the main ten story part -- so I must be seeing the construction of another, lower part of the project.
The "tower" is on only part of the parking garage, and it has to be "fireproof" (concrete or steel) construction. The "wrap" of low-rise apartments can be three (or four, can never remember which) stories over the podium, and it can be stick-built.

I didn't see the plans for the 10-story version...I had seen the 26-story, but it's the same footprint, just with a shorter garage and a shorter tower.
 
#13,202 ·
Just noticed that I can now start to see the new 10 story apartment building on the north canal starting to come out of the ground as I look in that direction from one of the offices here at work. It must be at least the second floor that they are working on now - because I saw the first floor out of the ground a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to check in person -- it may be the third floor by now. It looks like wood construction - which is strange. That wouldn't be happening for the main ten story part -- so I must be seeing the construction of another, lower part of the project.
I haven't been following this thread as closely as I should...does anybody have a link to renderings for this project?
 
#13,204 ·
Let's look at ROI for the city...totally back of the envelope, though.

Ok, the general property tax goes into the TIF pot and doesn't pay a cent for cops, firefighters, etc. To the extent that it covers more than the city's bond payment, it can be used for other infrastructure and property improvements in BR...Canal, streetscape, etc.

How many jobs will there be at Whole Foods? I am guessing 40-60. A few are well-paid, but most aren't. Let's assume 60 jobs. Typically government subsidize jobs at about $15-20,000 each. That would be $1.2 million in subsidy just for the jobs. So the part going to the real estate project is closer to $3.8 million. Still not great, but also not 25% of project cost...down to 19%.

Now let's assume those jobs pay an average of $15/hour. That's about $1.9 million in payroll. At the city's current rate of income tax, that's almost $30,000 in payroll taxes per year. Net present value of that stream of income using a cap (capitalization) rate of 6.66% is $450,000. Take that off the subsidy and you're down closer to $3.4 million, or 17% of project cost.

And we haven't captured the income tax to be paid by an increased number of (higher-income) residents on the site. Let's say they're adding 50 more units than are already there in the old buildings, which will attract new residents making $50,000 per year on average. That's another $2.5 million of wages, close to $40,000 in income taxes, present value of $600,000.

Now the subsidy is down below $2.8 million, present value. Under 15%. Probably just covers the financial hole created by having so much extra parking, structured.

Some folks will call this "fuzzy math". It's finance and economic development analysis. It's not an exact science, but there's your rubric.
By breaking things down this way, we're still at a 15% subsidy for the structured parking component. Nevermind that a proper comparison would have to account for the fact that Block 400 and Cosmo also have retail (job creation) components and are significantly larger residential income tax-generators (especially as they were replacing sites with zero population).

To make things even more apples-to-apples, I could also point out that the $11M Block 400 subsidy is for the One America parking garage that merely facilitates the construction of Block 400 -- by relocating the parking to make the land available -- but doesn't directly subsidize it. So that project technically has 0% subsidy. How does F&C make that work financially but Browning can't even get close in Broad Ripple?
 
#13,205 ·
Processing all of your comments together, I would guess that the essential issue with Browning's project is that the residential component is small relative to the total number of parking spaces required for this project. Which is to say that the retail component requires a lot of structured parking spaces that it cannot begin to support on its own.

So basically Browning is asking for TIF money to support a high-end grocery store in one of the most grocery-store-rich areas of the whole city. This site is a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Good Earth, three-ish blocks from Kroger, 1.2 miles from Marsh, 1.3 miles from Fresh Market, and 1.5 miles from the Glendale Target. Broad Ripple is very far from starving.

I'm completely fine with this project if the free market wants to support it. Otherwise, this is lunacy.
 
#13,206 ·
Processing all of your comments together, I would guess that the essential issue with Browning's project is that the residential component is small relative to the total number of parking spaces required for this project. Which is to say that the retail component requires a lot of structured parking spaces that it cannot begin to support on its own.
That's kind of my point. Unless they can charge for the parking.

I would add that the rents are probably lower in BR than in the F&C downtown apartments.

So basically Browning is asking for TIF money to support a high-end grocery store in one of the most grocery-store-rich areas of the whole city. This site is a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Good Earth, three-ish blocks from Kroger, 1.2 miles from Marsh, 1.3 miles from Fresh Market, and 1.5 miles from the Glendale Target. Broad Ripple is very far from starving.
/whine on

But they WAAAAANT to WAAAALK to Whole Foods in Broad Ripple. It's ESSENTIAL to their quality of life difference and maintaining property values. Good Earth isn't full-line. Kroger is a glorified c-store. And Trader Joe's is clear up in Castleton.

/whine off

How else will they attract spoiled yuppies?

And yes...I know: some of us live 2 or more miles from the nearest not-so-nice grocery. I'm one.
 
#13,207 ·
Several new things happening in the first block of E. Washington Street. The new building is now under construction on the former vacant piece of property just east of Jimmy John's. A Chipotle restaurant will be on the first floor. They've got most of the first floor framed out so far. Ultimately it will be about a three story building.

The spot that was last occupied by Coal Pizza has a permit sign in the window announcing plans for a future Irish bar / restaurant. Interior work is currently underway there.

Approximately two buildings further to the east - in the building just east of the Libertine, work is being done on that building with signs in the window saying it will become an art gallery focusing on framed art work and sculptures.
 
#13,213 ·
need to get more supporters

Any thoughts or comments on the side-tracking/failure of the Fountain Square economic improvement district at City-County Council last night?
I think this is a good opportunity to go back to the drawing board and convince more people in FS to support this. I heard support was near 50% so to ensure we can break that barrier. We should meet and try to pursuade more support for this improvement district. So the next time well be beyond 50% support.
 
#13,214 ·
Except they treat their employees much better. And provide a platform for B&M retailers, even local ones, to sell their goods nationally on their website.
Amazon probably does treat their employees much better then Walmart, no argument there. But they are terrible for small businesses and B&M retailers. A business selling its goods on Amazon is not a good idea...or at the very least one that requires considerable thought before jumping in. They charge outrageous fees that strip away your profit margin, plus they are known to mine your data, find what you are selling a lot of, then go buy it and sell it themselves for a lot cheaper. Then you're SOL.

Cheaper to sell on your own website.

As for Amazon, instead of everyone outsourcing to them, I'd much rather they outsource to local small businesses. We have a lot of fulfillment and distribution centers in central Indiana, especially around Park100 and in Plainfield. Would be nice if Amazon could hire these companies to do third party fulfillment for them. Won't ever happen; but I'd think better of them if they ever did give back to businesses like that.
 
#13,215 · (Edited)
Amazon probably does treat their employees much better then Walmart, no argument there. But they are terrible for small businesses and B&M retailers. A business selling its goods on Amazon is not a good idea...or at the very least one that requires considerable thought before jumping in. They charge outrageous fees that strip away your profit margin, plus they are known to mine your data, find what you are selling a lot of, then go buy it and sell it themselves for a lot cheaper. Then you're SOL.

Cheaper to sell on your own website.

As for Amazon, instead of everyone outsourcing to them, I'd much rather they outsource to local small businesses. We have a lot of fulfillment and distribution centers in central Indiana, especially around Park100 and in Plainfield. Would be nice if Amazon could hire these companies to do third party fulfillment for them. Won't ever happen; but I'd think better of them if they ever did give back to businesses like that.
As someone who sells on Amazon, I've yet to pay any fees I've considered "outrageous." It's cheaper than Etsy or eBay, and cheaper than maintaining the overhead of a commercial website - and, before you tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm also a professional web developer that makes commercial websites.

Amazon killing B&M stores is no different than Netflix killing Blockbuster. It's the evolution of technology and the industry pushing these stores out of business. People want convenience and ease. I agree that it's sad that smaller shops don't exist in the same abundance they used to, but there just isn't as strong market for them. You think Amazon magically going away will suddenly cause a vibrant local economy? No, just other convenient and easy options will fill Amazon's place.

I'm not sure what you mean by wishing they'd hire third companies to fulfill for them. Companies that sell on Amazon have the choice of whether to send their goods to Amazon or sell and ship directly from their own location, employing their own people.

It'd be awesome to live in our fantasy land of a shop on every corner offering me the same common or specialty items that Amazon has. But bitching and moaning about a service provided by a reputable company that employs thousands in Indianapolis alone that pays its employees a living wage won't get us there. Amazon came along and provided what people want. It's a business. It's capitalism. We can't push the blame to them.
 
#13,216 ·
Clearly my experience selling on Amazon vs. owning a commercial website is different from your experience doing both of those. If Amazon works for you, then that's great. Just didn't work for me; didn't care for the fee structure, I didn't approve of some of their practices, and I've heard some real horror stories. So I have my opinion. But clearly others have really good experiences with the merchant side of Amazon.

They do employee a lot of people here locally, and to that end, and that they are about to hire more, I'm happy to have them in our neighborhood. (I just still think small business should fear Amazon the same way they fear Walmart.)
 
#13,217 ·
Crumbling Vermont Plaza along canal finally getting a facelift:

http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DPW/RebuildIndy/Projects/Documents/Fact Sheet/VermontStPlazaFS.pdf

City Launching Construction of Vermont Street Plaza

INDIANAPOLIS – The Department of Public Works (DPW) will begin a comprehensive reconstruction project on Wednesday to enhance the Vermont Street plaza adjacent to the Canal Walk in Downtown Indianapolis.

“The Vermont Street Plaza is one of Downtown’s most visible and popular open spaces,” DPW Director Lori Miser said. “This project will beautify the space for residents and visitors, making the area more user-friendly for special events.”

The project includes installing a new plaza surface of grass and concrete with multiple colors and patterns; adding new fountains that are more efficient, quieter and require less maintenance; constructing new plant beds with repurposed limestone; and incorporating underground tent anchors to accommodate various tent sizes and make the space more efficient when renting the plaza for events.

To create more open space, DPW will rebuild the stairs from the street level to the plaza, and crews will rehabilitate the pedestrian bridge and existing railings along the bridge and the stairways.

The cost of this Vermont Street Plaza project is approximately $1.45 million. This project is a part of the City’s 2013 RebuildIndy program. Work is scheduled to begin this Wednesday, July 31 and will be completed this fall. Crews will install new landscaping plants in the spring of 2014.

For more information and a complete project list of the RebuildIndy investment to date, please visit www.Indy.gov/RebuildIndy.
 
#13,220 ·
^^ ...although the vines growing all over the bridge gave it a pretty cool feel -- and let you imagine that the bridge had been built a century ago or something like that. It'll be nice to see the improvements - primary along the edges of the canal where the existing limestone / cement border has had several pieces starting to flake and crack. In the areas along the canal where they have replaced steps and borders with granite (like in the area around the Ohio Street basin) the improvements are excellent. Hopefully we'll see similar improvements here.
 
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