Indianapolis Development News

[arenn]

Here's something I found interesting. My mom got me an Indianapolis Starbucks cup for Christmas. Since she lives near Louisville, I inquired how she got it. She said she picked it up at the Starbucks inside Kroger in New Albany. This location is two miles from downtown Louisville and they are stocking Indianapolis cups. I thought that was curios

[DowntownIndianapolis]

Originally Posted by arenn

Here's something I found interesting. My mom got me an Indianapolis Starbucks cup for Christmas. Since she lives near Louisville, I inquired how she got it. She said she picked it up at the Starbucks inside Kroger in New Albany. This location is two miles from downtown Louisville and they are stocking Indianapolis cups. I thought that was curios

Probably because of the Louisville Bridge problems with I-64 Sherman Minton Bridge being shut down still.
I-65 is hell to say it lightly around Louisville.

[cailes]

Good press Aaron. I read it yesterday. Good to see people lookking to you for answers. I agree, someone downtown should give you a full time job....

Nice seeing you Friday night Chris! ;-) The night was quiet a surprise. First Friday in January is usually very light.

[cdc guy]

Originally Posted by cailes

Nice seeing you Friday night Chris! ;-) The night was quiet a surprise. First Friday in January is usually very light.

Good to see you and the little guy! (Never understimate the East Side community development "Mafia", or the drawing power of soup from the Pogue's Run Grocer deli. )

The Super Bowl Legacy publicity push has started. Channel 13 was on East 10th Saturday morning for the first anniversary celebration at Pogue's Run.

[Round Rock]

Indy Airport:

Has anyone seen what the airport is doing to let you know the super bowl was coming? I remember seeing the big 10 championship banner above the ticket area back around Nov 26th. So do they plan to put a 150 foot banner saying welcome to super bowl XLVI with 20 foot tall letters? Also what other things do we think they will do in the terminal and concourses to let you know it is here? I remember one of the IBJ reporters went to Dallas last year and he said you had no idea the super bowl was in dallas. They did virtually nothing to their terminal.

[GarfieldPark]

Don't know what they might be doing out at the airport - but I'm sure they'll have something set up. Indy's terminal works very well for presenting info to arriving guests as the main gates all bring you into the central terminal area - so they just need to hang their big signs and decorations there for everyone to see.

On that same note -- I'm very interested to begin seeing the other big changes start happening downtown. I'm guessing there will be some mega banners installed on the sides of buildings and much more being set up along Georgia Street as well as S. Meridian and the other corridors running south into the Wholesale District.

Anyone have any insight into what types of short term rentals might be happening with some of the large spaces available downtown? in particular, the Borders space and the former Nordstrom space along S. Meridian and Georgia Street? They should start turning the Hampton Inn downtown into the Budweiser Hotel pretty soon. That'll be cool to see. I'd say we've probably got about another 8 - 10 days before we start seeing the serious set-up work beginning. I believe the first street closings will begin around January 17th or 18th. The ESPN booth at Georgia and Capitol should start going up soon -- and I sure hope to start seeing more improvements in the near future at Pan Am Plaza.

I was in Ft. Lauderdale a couple of years ago the week before Super Bowl week when the Colts were playing the Saints. I was there about ten days before the SB - and just a few days after the Conference championship games - and they already had huge Peyton Manning and Drew Breese posters (15 stories tall or so) on the sides of some of the major hotels. They must have had them made and installed within a couple of days after the final team pairing was set. I suppose it may be similar here as they won't know which teams will be playing until Jan. 22nd.

[GarfieldPark]

Speaking of big signs and marketing ..... I hope the folks from Louisville don't try to do their guerilla marketing again to promote their city during the big event that we are hosting -- like they tried to do a few years ago (unsuccessfully) when we were hosting the Final Four. I know there were a few blog commenters who didn't think there was anything wrong with it then and kind of chided Indy for coming down too roughly with our code enforcement on them -- but I was sure glad they got shut down - and I think it definitely would be very tacky of them to try the same thing once again.

[cstasila]

Originally Posted by Round Rock

Indy Airport:

Has anyone seen what the airport is doing to let you know the super bowl was coming? I remember seeing the big 10 championship banner above the ticket area back around Nov 26th. So do they plan to put a 150 foot banner saying welcome to super bowl XLVI with 20 foot tall letters? Also what other things do we think they will do in the terminal and concourses to let you know it is here? I remember one of the IBJ reporters went to Dallas last year and he said you had no idea the super bowl was in dallas. They did virtually nothing to their terminal.

As of this morning, there is one big banner above the main bank of escalators by the entry to the civic plaza. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it on Thursday when I fly home. If the NFL combine is any indication, more branding should be coming. My favorite piece of flare for the combine are the signs on the floor at the bottom of every jet bridge welcoming passengers to Indianapolis and the combine.

[SkywlkrSnd]

Originally Posted by GarfieldPark

Anyone have any insight into what types of short term rentals might be happening with some of the large spaces available downtown? in particular, the Borders space and the former Nordstrom space along S. Meridian and Georgia Street? They should start turning the Hampton Inn downtown into the Budweiser Hotel pretty soon. That'll be cool to see. I'd say we've probably got about another 8 - 10 days before we start seeing the serious set-up work beginning. I believe the first street closings will begin around January 17th or 18th. The ESPN booth at Georgia and Capitol should start going up soon -- and I sure hope to start seeing more improvements in the near future at Pan Am Plaza.

IDADA (Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association) has taken over the old state museum building temporarily and done some renovations for their art pavilion exhibit. Opening is this weekend and runs through the Super Bowl. It'll be exciting to finally see that spaced used again, even if it's just temporary. Maybe getting it cleaned up and people inside it again will spur some ideas from developers for a long-term use for it.

http://www.idadaartpavilion.com/

[JohnM Indy]

I was at the airport yesterday. There is a big Super Bowl banner in the main hall that is sponsored by Bud Light, and decals wrapped around poles in the baggage claim area, sponsored by Pepsi. There is a long translucent decal (perhaps 150 feet) over the office windows on the ground floor of the ground transportation building that says "welcome to the Super Bowl." I'm sure there will be more as the game approaches.

[dcesar716]

By Tom Harton
Owners of Broad Ripple's Brugge Brasserie want to bring a new restaurant concept to the Massachusetts Avenue district downtown, where they also plan to relocate the craft brewery that supplies beer to Brugge.

First, partners in the new venture need to win rezoning for two buildings just south of the intersection of Massachusetts and Park avenues, one of which they have already leased.

The partners recently leased the 9,325-square-foot building at the northwest corner of North Street and Park Avenue for the brewery, which it plans to move from Terre Haute. From the early 1950s until last March, the building housed The Tway Co., which sells industrial wire, rope and slings. The five-year lease includes options to extend the lease and an option to buy the building.

One of the partners in Brugge also intends to buy the building immediately to the north of the would-be brewery. That 3,600-square-foot building, at 608 N. Park, would house a 100-seat restaurant. The building, which dates to the 1800s, was formerly occupied by McDaniel & Co., which sells piping products.

Charlie Midgley said he intends to make an offer on the McDaniel property this week. He's a partner in Brugge but doesn't know if he'll be an investor in REV, short for Rocket Epicurian Ventures LLC, the entity that will own the downtown venture. If he succeeds in buying the building, he'll lease it to REV, which is owned by Ted Miller, Eli Schloss and Abraham Benrubi, all of whom are partners in Brugge.

Miller is working with local chef Greg Hardesty to develop a menu and new line of beers for the unnamed restaurant, which Miller said would have a wide range of prices and menu items. He described the menu as contemporary American and "an exploration of food and beer." Hardesty \also would be an investor in the restaurant.

Miller, whose been traveling to Terre Haute on a regular basis to run the brewery that supplies Brugge, said the goal of moving the brewery to Indianapolis kicked off the search for local real estate. The idea of opening another restaurant came second. "When we saw that site available, we thought, 'If we're going into a more high-rent district we have to incorporate the restaurant concept.'"

Taking advantage of the trendy Mass Ave location presents some challenges for the partners, who have just started the process of lining up the support of neighbors who live in proximity to the buildings.

REV is in the process of rezoning both properties from an industrial classification to a central business district commercial classification. It has also requested three variances, including one that would reduce the number of off-street parking spaces the brewery and restaurant must provide.

The investors propose providing 11 spaces in a lot at the west end of the brewery building, instead of the 44 spaces that would typically be required. Miller said the group is negotiating to secure more off-street parking in the immediate vicinity.

Because the project falls within the Chatham Arch Massachusetts Avenue historic district, the rezoning and variances will be heard by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission. The requests are scheduled to be heard at IHPC's Jan. 25 meeting. The rezoning portion of the request must also be approved by the Metropolitan Development Commission and the City-County Council.

Meg Purnsely, an architectural reviewer for IHPC, said there isn't yet any organized opposition to the plan, but she's heard from individuals who have expressed concern about parking, congestion and an outdoor seating area for the restaurant that would be adjacent to residences.

"We really want to be sensitive to neighbors' concerns," said Miller. "We're going to be neighbors and we want them to be customers." He said limiting the hours of the restaurant and an outdoor seating area is among the steps the partners are prepared to take to be sensitive to the concerns of neighbors.

Outreach efforts have been complicated by the timing of the proposal, Miller said. The Chatham Arch Neighborhood Association didn't meet in December because of the holidays, for example. And the IHPC meeting where the case will be heard is being moved up one week to avoid Super Bowl conflicts.

If all goes as planned, the partners would like to have the brewery and restaurant open this spring.

[dcesar716]

Brugge owners eye downtown buildings for brewery, restaurant
http://www.ibj.com/brugge-owners-eye.../article/31858

[GarfieldPark]

I understand how some of the neighbor's concerns would need to be worked out -- but, I would love to see that kind of brewery and restaurant happen in that location. Hopefully the other three corners of that intersection will also be able to be developed in the not too distant future with some great upper floor residential and ground floor retail.

[Round Rock]

Artsgarden connector:

How is the Artsgarden connector going? I haven't seen anything about it since mid November.

[cdc guy]

Originally Posted by Round Rock

Artsgarden connector:

How is the Artsgarden connector going? I haven't seen anything about it since mid November.

Looked as if it was pretty well along the last time I drove up under it, a week or two ago.

[GarfieldPark]

Yes - they still have at least one lane of Illinois closed for the construction equipment that is parked there - but the connector looks almost finished. I think they need to finish putting the last of the limestone panels on the southernmost edge of the structure - but all of the glass is up and I could see the new doorways in place inside where the walkway connects to the Hyatt / PNC. I would think it will probably be just another week or two before it is open to the public.

Also --- I walked down to Pan Am Plaza. There were workers working on the bricks and cracked concrete. There are "x's" all over the place marking where things need to be fixed. I doubt if it will look completely fixed when they are done -- but it'll probably look a whole lot better.

On W. Maryland Street - in front of the convention center - I saw the first of the new Super Bowl XLVI light pole banners. They look pretty good. I like the text style of the "XLVI" and the banners each are fairly colorful - although the colors are kind of in subdued shades. Pretty nice overall.

[JeffG]

Originally Posted by dcesar716

Brugge owners eye downtown buildings for brewery, restaurant
http://www.ibj.com/brugge-owners-eye.../article/31858

Quote from IBJ article: "Meg Purnsely, an architectural reviewer for IHPC, said there isn't yet any organized opposition to the plan, but she's heard from individuals who have expressed concern about parking, congestion and an outdoor seating area for the restaurant that would be adjacent to residences."

There are already half a dozen or more bars and restaurants within a block of this location. It's odd for residents who chose to live in this type of neighborhood would offer "concern" about another food and drink establishment. Maybe this one is just a touch too close to the loft condos along Park for a few tenants. Seems silly.

The other three corners at this intersection are desolate. This may spark a little more interest and initiative to transform the 2 blocks north of Michigan.

[GarfieldPark]

Glad to see they're putting up pre-fab, giant "tents" on the parking lot north of Lucas Oil Stadium (and south of the tracks). That definitely improves the view from the south as the tents should block much of the view of the beautiful cement wall next to the tracks and hopefully at least part of that two block long aluminum wall that is the south side of the convention center. It should be a fun three weeks watching the downtown continue to change in advance of XLVI.

[Drewbie]

[QUOTE=JeffG;87422251]Quote from IBJ article: "Meg Purnsely, an architectural reviewer for IHPC, said there isn't yet any organized opposition to the plan, but she's heard from individuals who have expressed concern about parking, congestion and an outdoor seating area for the restaurant that would be adjacent to residences."
QUOTE]



C'mon, you can't expect to live in the literal heart of town and not expect to deal with some crowds. That's a good problem to have these days. I understand Mass Ave is, like the utopian urban vision in Indianapolis, but not everything is going to be peaches and creme all the time. Me, personally, i like the hustle and bustle, It makes things seem more lived in.

[Drewbie]

And a Random Question, What ever happened to Merill Street Tower Proposal ? It Fell off the radar about the same time as the Le Meridian. Does anybody think a project along those lines will resurface in a few years if City Way rents out its units as well as the Cosmo did?