Indianapolis Development News

[IndiexInxIndy]

Okay, OKAY i know most of y'all are gonna be bitchin at me sayin that this ought to go under another thread... However, i disagree completely! A project of this scale and magnitude deserves it's OWN thread! Anyway here's the run-down (with a catch)

Massive project planned
Woodfield Crossing proposal calls for hotel, offices, condos, and 5,000-seat theater
Sat. May 26 - 2007

IBJ staff
A local firm plans to redevelop a quiet corner near the Fashion Mall into a mixed-use behemoth with a full-service hotel, 5,000-seat theater, hundreds of condos, and more than a million square feet of office and retail space.

A site plan and renderings for the 1.8-millionsquare-foot project, called Woodfield Crossing, show several modern-looking buildings oriented around a circular plaza southwest of the intersection of Keystone Avenue and 86th Street. The retail component alone would be roughly the size of the Fashion Mall at Keystone. And the entire project’s square footage would make it about 50 percent larger than Castleton Square Mall.

Plans show three midrise buildings and several smaller structures. The project calls for a 700,000-square-foot office building, a 240,000-square-foot hotel, 650,000 square feet of retail space, and 240,000 square feet of residential.

The tallest of the buildings appears to be about 20 stories. Although no cost figure was available at press time, the project would likely range into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The developer, Premier Properties USA Inc., hopes to open the project in the summer of 2009.

Premier displayed the site plan and renderings as part of its booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual conven- tion in Las Vegas May 20-23. Premier is pitching potential tenants on the project, but company officials said it’s too early to discuss plans publicly.

The project would replace Woodfield Centre, a 60,000-square-foot retail center anchored by Elán Furs and D’Vine Wine Bar. It also would require adjacent properties and was designed to incorporate at least two neighboring office buildings.

Premier hired The Jerde Partnership, a Los Angeles-based architecture and urban planning firm, to design the project. Jerde came up with a dramatic layout unlike any other in Indianapolis.

A description of the project on Premier’s Web site says Woodfield Crossing will “embody a lifestyle and experience that in the past was only available to locals in popular tourist destinations throughout the world.”

The description says the project—which would sit across the street from a development that will include the city’s first Whole Foods—will include its own organic foods market, among many other tenants.

Real estate brokers say the location is prime and has been underused. But the scope of the project attracted a measure of skepticism.

“It’s certainly a viable retail corridor,” said Donna Hovey, vice president of retail for the local office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis. “The question becomes, are there any underserved retail markets there, and do the uses the developer has in mind coincide with that gap?”


She said Premier has had success building and leasing projects, despite naysayers. The company developed the funky Echelon retail center, near the northwest corner of 82nd Street and Allisonville Road, and Metropolis, a 600,000-squarefoot lifestyle center in Plainfield. Materials distributed in Las Vegas show plans for an 800,000-square-foot expansion called Metropolis Commons.

“They’re a regional developer that has quietly gone about developing their projects, often under the radar,” Hovey said. “I think they’ll probably pull it off.”

Property records show Premier bought the 6.4-acre Woodfield Centre property in 2001. It was not clear whether the company has secured other properties it would need to complete the redevelopment project, including office buildings that also carry the Woodfield Crossing name.

Premier would not provide digital copies of the rendering or site plan, but an IBJ reporter photographed both in Las Vegas. (The images can be found on the Property Lines real estate blog at www.ibj.com.)

The Woodfield Centre shopping strip was developed in 1988 by the predecessor to Indianapolis-based Lauth. The center has suffered because it is difficult to access and doesn’t have much visibility. The one-story shopping center is hidden by an onramp to Keystone Avenue.

Premier has not replaced some tenants that have left over the years, including Especially Wicker and George’s Steaks & Seafood. And the company has put other retailers on notice that redevelopment is on the horizon.

Circle City Tickets’ lease allows the ticket broker to walk or the landlord to kick it out with four months’ notice, said Mike Peduto, a partner in Circle City. He said the firm renegotiated its lease about a year ago.

“They said they’re going to tear the place down and do something different,” Peduto said. “They told us there will be a place for us.”

If there’s any area of Indianapolis where such an “aggressive” development could work, it would be in the vicinity of Keystone at the Crossing, said Jeff Henry, managing principal at the local office of St. Louis-based Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. In 2006, there were about 25,000 households with a median income of $68,400 living within three miles of Woodfield Centre—prime demographics in the eyes of many retailers.•


So here is the "catch" on IBJ & in Vegas here is the proposed look!
http://www.ibj.com/html/blogshell.asp?p=114

Yet on Premier's WEBSITE it is totally different...
http://www.ppusa.com/properties/view/woodfield

What The Phuck?

[brewcityfan]

Pabst Farms in suburban Milwaukee is pretty much doing the same exact thing - large upscale shoppingtown, many various big box stores on the fringe, a large hospital, high tech offices, hotel, etc, etc, etc. I don't think we got the theater part though.....

[ragerunner1]

Originally Posted by IndiexInxIndy

Okay, OKAY i know most of y'all are gonna be bitchin at me sayin that this ought to go under another thread... However, i disagree completely! A project of this scale and magnitude deserves it's OWN thread! Anyway here's the run-down (with a catch)

Massive project planned
Woodfield Crossing proposal calls for hotel, offices, condos, and 5,000-seat theater
Sat. May 26 - 2007

IBJ staff
A local firm plans to redevelop a quiet corner near the Fashion Mall into a mixed-use behemoth with a full-service hotel, 5,000-seat theater, hundreds of condos, and more than a million square feet of office and retail space.

A site plan and renderings for the 1.8-millionsquare-foot project, called Woodfield Crossing, show several modern-looking buildings oriented around a circular plaza southwest of the intersection of Keystone Avenue and 86th Street. The retail component alone would be roughly the size of the Fashion Mall at Keystone. And the entire project’s square footage would make it about 50 percent larger than Castleton Square Mall.

Plans show three midrise buildings and several smaller structures. The project calls for a 700,000-square-foot office building, a 240,000-square-foot hotel, 650,000 square feet of retail space, and 240,000 square feet of residential.

The tallest of the buildings appears to be about 20 stories. Although no cost figure was available at press time, the project would likely range into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The developer, Premier Properties USA Inc., hopes to open the project in the summer of 2009.

Premier displayed the site plan and renderings as part of its booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual conven- tion in Las Vegas May 20-23. Premier is pitching potential tenants on the project, but company officials said it’s too early to discuss plans publicly.

The project would replace Woodfield Centre, a 60,000-square-foot retail center anchored by Elán Furs and D’Vine Wine Bar. It also would require adjacent properties and was designed to incorporate at least two neighboring office buildings.

Premier hired The Jerde Partnership, a Los Angeles-based architecture and urban planning firm, to design the project. Jerde came up with a dramatic layout unlike any other in Indianapolis.

A description of the project on Premier’s Web site says Woodfield Crossing will “embody a lifestyle and experience that in the past was only available to locals in popular tourist destinations throughout the world.”

The description says the project—which would sit across the street from a development that will include the city’s first Whole Foods—will include its own organic foods market, among many other tenants.

Real estate brokers say the location is prime and has been underused. But the scope of the project attracted a measure of skepticism.

“It’s certainly a viable retail corridor,” said Donna Hovey, vice president of retail for the local office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis. “The question becomes, are there any underserved retail markets there, and do the uses the developer has in mind coincide with that gap?”


She said Premier has had success building and leasing projects, despite naysayers. The company developed the funky Echelon retail center, near the northwest corner of 82nd Street and Allisonville Road, and Metropolis, a 600,000-squarefoot lifestyle center in Plainfield. Materials distributed in Las Vegas show plans for an 800,000-square-foot expansion called Metropolis Commons.

“They’re a regional developer that has quietly gone about developing their projects, often under the radar,” Hovey said. “I think they’ll probably pull it off.”

Property records show Premier bought the 6.4-acre Woodfield Centre property in 2001. It was not clear whether the company has secured other properties it would need to complete the redevelopment project, including office buildings that also carry the Woodfield Crossing name.

Premier would not provide digital copies of the rendering or site plan, but an IBJ reporter photographed both in Las Vegas. (The images can be found on the Property Lines real estate blog at www.ibj.com.)

The Woodfield Centre shopping strip was developed in 1988 by the predecessor to Indianapolis-based Lauth. The center has suffered because it is difficult to access and doesn’t have much visibility. The one-story shopping center is hidden by an onramp to Keystone Avenue.

Premier has not replaced some tenants that have left over the years, including Especially Wicker and George’s Steaks & Seafood. And the company has put other retailers on notice that redevelopment is on the horizon.

Circle City Tickets’ lease allows the ticket broker to walk or the landlord to kick it out with four months’ notice, said Mike Peduto, a partner in Circle City. He said the firm renegotiated its lease about a year ago.

“They said they’re going to tear the place down and do something different,” Peduto said. “They told us there will be a place for us.”

If there’s any area of Indianapolis where such an “aggressive” development could work, it would be in the vicinity of Keystone at the Crossing, said Jeff Henry, managing principal at the local office of St. Louis-based Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. In 2006, there were about 25,000 households with a median income of $68,400 living within three miles of Woodfield Centre—prime demographics in the eyes of many retailers.•


So here is the "catch" on IBJ & in Vegas here is the proposed look!
http://www.ibj.com/html/blogshell.asp?p=114

Yet on Premier's WEBSITE it is totally different...
http://www.ppusa.com/properties/view/woodfield

What The Phuck?

I would say that the newest pics is from the Vegas Retail show. It more detailed and defined. The first one appears to be more of a quick drawn graphic.

[ragerunner1]

Originally Posted by brewcityfan

Pabst Farms in suburban Milwaukee is pretty much doing the same exact thing - large upscale shoppingtown, many various big box stores on the fringe, a large hospital, high tech offices, hotel, etc, etc, etc. I don't think we got the theater part though.....

Not to be rude, but how does Pabst Farm and its very traditional suburban track housing layout, big box strip centers, and suburban office buildings remind you of woodfield crossing, a high dense, urban redevelopment project compacted on a small piece of land?

[brewcityfan]

Originally Posted by ragerunner1

Not to be rude, but how does Pabst Farm and its very traditional suburban track housing layout, big box strip centers, and suburban office buildings remind you of woodfield crossing, a high dense, urban redevelopment project compacted on a small piece of land?

It has basically the same items that Woodfield is going to have. The only difference would be P.F. is out in the burbs and Woodfield is in an urban setting. Sorry to have ruffled the feathers buddy.

[Unionstation13]

personally I think this project is a failed attempt at trying to become urban, while there are still vast parking lots around it. It looks fake to me, but thats just my opinion.

[cityfan]

I'll have more of an opinion when I see better renderings and know what the final plan entails. But as of now, I do have high hopes.

[cwilson758]

Originally Posted by Unionstation13

personally I think this project is a failed attempt at trying to become urban, while there are still vast parking lots around it. It looks fake to me, but thats just my opinion.

Well, its surroundings are about as suburban as you can get. It's not like this is anywhere near the core...or even Center Township for that matter.

I think that this is great. Although, I don't think it needs its own thread.

[cityfan]

While the surroundings are pretty suburban, it's not like Zionsville. I wouldn't exactly call Keystone at the Crossing or the Fashion Mall 100% suburban.

[ablerock]

The location is suburban, there's no getting around that, but this area will be interesting to watch if the Keystone Ave corridor is chosen for the rapid transit system. I'll be much more apt to check out concerts and shop in that area if I can hop on a train rather than fight the migraine-inducing traffic nightmare known as Le Northside.

[cwilson758]

I take posession of my new "le northside" house on Monday. I can't believe it. I feel like I am betraying everything I am as a planner...but the house is AWESOME!

[cityfan]

From IBJ:

D’vine move clears way for big project. June 5, 2007

Premier Properties has taken another step toward its ambitious plan for Woodfield Crossing. The company has a deal to relocate D’vine A Wine Bar from an existing retail building on the Woodfield property to another building it owns. D’vine is moving into the former home of Cibo Italian restaurant in the Echelon (northwest of 82nd Street and Allisonville Road). The wine bar began working on the space this week and will take a total of 5,500 square feet on the first floor and mezzanine. The old 3,200-square-foot location will remain open until the new space is available. Premier plans to raze the former home of D’vine as part of a redevelopment project that calls for a 5,000-seat theater, hundreds of condos and more than a million square feet of office and retail space. The owner of D’vine, Bennet Ackerman, said he’d move into the new project “in a heartbeat” if Premier offers the opportunity.
A D’vine bonus: The wine bar also is working on a deal to open a new location in downtown Carmel.

[i_am_hydrogen]

...continued from the old thread, which was up above 2,000 posts.

Click here for the previous thread.

[moochie]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

...continued from the old thread, which was up above 2,000 posts.

Click here for the previous thread.

Yeah, we Hoosiers sure have turned into some Chatty Cathys haven't we?

[Unionstation13]

awww I am gonna miss the old thread.

[mobyhead]

Originally Posted by moochie

Yeah, we Hoosiers sure have turned into some Chatty Cathys haven't we?

Cathy wasn't exactly a looker.....

[billionbucks]

from the old thread, the topic of the taxes came up... and i couldnt agree more. the people scream about crime then scream when its trying to be fixed. They're insane. I simply wrote "stop whining" because any logical thought in indystar forums is useless.

[billionbucks]

Cultural Trail paving to begin next week
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...LOCAL/70724039

I'll give everyone a fair warning... the indystar forumers think their taxes are going to this project and they hate the city for wasting money on building a sidewalk.

[CorrND]

Originally Posted by billionbucks

Cultural Trail paving to begin next week
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...LOCAL/70724039

I'll give everyone a fair warning... the indystar forumers think their taxes are going to this project and they hate the city for wasting money on building a sidewalk.

I was tempted to write back but it's pointless. I'm not going to change anybody's mind. They all would rather complain on a message board than try to be truly informed. People also seem to think that a traffic lane is going to be eliminated on Alabama. I just posted over on the Cultural Trail thread that this is not the case.

[mobyhead]

CorrND I see you posted over at Property Lines about the O'Mailia's remodel and tax abatement. When I lived downtown I didn't shop there. Hate the place. Turn it back into a Sears store. (just kidding).