Sarah S. Riordan
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In 1985, with the assistance of the Indiana General Assembly, the City of Indianapolis established the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank, the first municipal bond bank in the country. The Bond Bank is a municipal corporation that serves as the debt issuance and management arm of the City of Indianapolis and related “Qualified Entities.” These entities include special taxing districts, political subdivisions, and building/leasing authorities. Since its inception, the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank has issued nearly $13 billion in bonds and notes on behalf of various Qualified Entities of the City of Indianapolis and Marion County.
The Bond Bank’s structure allows for the centralized management and supervision of all debt issued by governmental entities throughout Marion County. By coordinating all locally-issued debt, including general obligation and revenue bonds, the Bond Bank provides leadership and guidance through the capital markets and the sale of municipal bonds and other debt instruments. For example, the Bond Bank coordinates the timing of all city and Qualified Entity bond sales. The Bond Bank also maintains relationships and regular communications with representatives from the national credit rating agencies and assists with securing ratings when necessary and providing frequent updates to the agencies on the City’s economy, employment figures, major developments, and the annual budget and audit process. The Bond Bank actively monitors local and national bond markets, as well as financial and economic trends that impact bond issuance structures, timing, and interest rates.
With the assistance of the professionals employed by the various Qualified Entities, the Bond Bank also prepares documents related to bond issuances, manages trustee banks and the collection and disbursement of bond proceeds. The Bond Bank is also primarily responsible for investor outreach and communication, including obligations under continuing disclosure agreements. By centralizing the management of all debt issued by local government entities, the debt management process is simplified and the Bond Bank can provide organization, structure, and consistency to investors interested in purchasing securities issued by Indianapolis entities.
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View Program DetailsThe Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for a new taxing district that could be used to help pay for a new professional soccer stadium on the east side of downtown.
The commission voted 7-1 to advance the map specifying the boundaries of a new professional sports development area, or PSDA, that would provide funding for a soccer-specific stadium that has been proposed by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett as part of a city pursuit of a Major League Soccer franchise.
The approval, the first step in the legislative process, came with nearly 100 Indy Eleven supporters—the city’s second-tier professional franchise—packing a portion of the City-County Building Public Assembly Room to show their support for the team, which the city’s plan could ultimately doom.
However, there was no public comment on the matter and the vote was taken as part of a batch of other resolutions. Daniel Moriarty was the lone commissioner to vote against the PSDA.
The MDC’s vote sends the proposal to City-County Council, which will introduce the measure during its next meeting, on May 13.
“We are excited to have taken the next step toward realizing Mayor Hogsett’s vision for a Major League Soccer expansion club in Indianapolis,” the mayor’s office said in a written statement. “This is just an early step in an extensive process, and we look forward to walking alongside our city’s vibrant and diverse soccer community in developing an application that we hope will secure Indianapolis as the next Major League Soccer city.”
The proposed PSDA specifies more than 120 non-contiguous addresses throughout the downtown area that would be incorporated into a district that would collect state retail taxes, local and state income taxes, and food and beverage taxes to pay for the public portion of the stadium, the location for which has been identified as a parking lot at 355 E. Pearl St., west of the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport.
The Indiana General Assembly passed legislation in 2019 allowing for state tax contributions of up to $9.5 million per year toward debt service on a soccer stadium, as long as 20% of the overall cost is contributed by private parties, such as a developer or owner.
The taxing map includes downtown landmarks such as Circle Centre Mall, the former Anthem headquarters on Monument Circle, the City Market campus and Jail I—along with the heliport property and surrounding parking lots.
City officials say they believe a new stadium at the site could spur development on many downtown parcels included in the map, while others, like the mall and City Market, are already set to receive substantial new investment.
Other properties include the Emmis building at 40 Monument Circle; multiple properties along Indiana Avenue; the Rolls-Royce headquarters; Union Station; and several Eli Lilly and Co.-owned properties between Pennsylvania Street and Delaware Street, on either side of the CSX railroad tracks. Several properties on the north end of the central business district, including portions of the Stutz, and a handful of parcels along East Washington Street are also in the proposed map.
The City-County Council has already approved a different PSDA for a professional soccer stadium at the former Diamond Chain site on the west side of downtown, giving its final approval on Dec. 4 by a 23-1 vote.
That $1.5 billion project, known as Eleven Park, is already under construction by Indianapolis-based Keystone Group, whose owner, Ersal Ozdemir, also owns the Indy Eleven soccer team., which plays in the USL Championship league.
However, a feasibility study has not yet been completed for the site, which is required before the PSDA map is considered for approval by the State Budget Committee, which has authority on the matter under the state legislation. City officials said the administration stopped negotiations with Keystone Group after determining there was “no viable path forward” for the project in terms of funding, citing an unspecified large gap.
At the City-County Council, the measure faces a battle, as the Democratic caucus has said it “has more questions than answers” about the proposal. If the council takes up the measure, it would be heard during the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee, where it would be open to public comment.
Councilor Kristin Jones, who represents District 18, where both proposed stadium sites are located, has been vocal against the change of plans.
Following the vote Wednesday, she told reporters she is “honored to have the stated support” of her 23 council colleagues. The city legislative body currently has 24 councilors instead of 25 due to the recent departure of Democrat La Keisha Jackson to fill an Indiana Senate vacancy.
When asked who would sponsor the proposal at the May 13 meeting, Jones said she did not know of a councilor who would sponsor it.
“Typically, proposals that are in your district, the district councilor is the sponsor to that proposal,” she said. “And I am telling you, I am not sponsoring this proposal. So they will need to look for a different author.”
She said she had the “overwhelming support” of both Democratic and Republican caucuses to advocate for her district, where she said constituents have looked forward to Eleven Park for a decade.
“They want Eleven Park to be built as planned, regardless of which jerseys are worn on that field,” Jones said. “They asked for nothing more, and they expect nothing less.”
For its part, the city has said it has discussed the effort with multiple council leaders.
“The mayor’s representatives not only had discussions with council leadership, but also individual councilors, leading up to the mayor’s announcement on the opportunity for the city to pursue a Major League Soccer expansion club and the importance of creating a new PSDA map,” city spokeswoman Aliya Wishner said.
“We are still in the early stages of this extensive process and look forward to continuing our conversations with councilors on this exciting opportunity to bring the major league of the world’s game to Indianapolis,” she said in a written statement.
Under the 2019 legislation that created the PSDA’s framework, the city must secure local legislative approvals by June 30. Hogsett administration officials expect to work with a new team-ownership group to determine which site to submit to the state budget committee. The state law allows for only one PSDA for the future soccer stadium.
While city officials have said that the Diamond Chain site and the existing PSDA remain an option for an MLS stadium, sources told IBJ on the condition of anonymity that the city would prefer to decommission the heliport and redevelop that site, instead.
There haven’t been any law firms or bail bonding companies that have leased space near the Indianapolis-Marion County Community Justice Campus in the Twin Aire neighborhood since the 140-acre campus opened in 2022.
But Gary Perel, a principal and senior director of retail at ALO Property Group LLC, thinks the neighborhood is primed for redevelopment.
To that end, ALO is working on a lease with a potential tenant for a 3,300-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor of a professional services building on the north side of the campus.
Perel said it’s been his primary goal to find a restaurant tenant for the building.
“This is what folks in the building are looking for,” Perel said, noting there aren’t many restaurant options in the area.
ALO hopes to have a lease executed with that tenant as soon as next week. If that happens, Perel estimated the restaurant could be open by fall.
Perel said there were originally two commercial buildings planned on the site, with the second building to offer an additional 80,000 square feet of potential office space.
Redevelopment ideas for Twin Aire have been percolating since 2016 when it was selected by the Indianapolis branch of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. as one of five neighborhoods in its Great Places community development and investment initiative.
Shortly thereafter, the administration of Mayor Joe Hogsett announced it had chosen the neighborhood’s former Citizens Energy coke plant at 2900 Prospect St. as the site for the Community Justice Campus. That resulted in $590 million in construction for a new jail, courts and ancillary services and the the moving of Marion County’s courts from downtown’s City-County Building to the southeast-side campus.
A Great Places strategy for Twin Aire, released in 2018, included a development plan built around the campus, outlining dozens of potential commercial, transportation and infrastructure projects. City and neighborhood leaders have expressed hopes that the opening of the campus would spur redevelopment in Twin Aire, but change has been slow to take root.
Aliya Wishner, the city’s director of communications and policy, told The Indiana Lawyer via email the city has been pleased to see some new developments in the nearby strip center and elsewhere.
“Kroger is in the process of undergoing renovations that are anticipated to be complete this year–not only keeping but improving a critical point of food access for the neighborhood. Infrastructure improvements have been underway in the area, including the trail along Southeastern, a rehabilitation of the Pleasant Run Greenway and a roundabout at English and Southeastern,” Wishner said.
Wishner said seven public buildings have been constructed to date on the CJC site, with plans for additional buildings in the future.
The Community Justice Campus is home to the Marion County Courts, housing 71 courtrooms shared by 37 superior and circuit court judges, as well as 45 magistrate judges.
In addition to the courts, the campus also includes the Marion County Jail, the Marion County Public Defender Agency, Marion County Probation Department and a Youth and Family Services Center.
Whether more government agencies, such as the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, will move their offices to the campus remains unclear.
Michael Leffler, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said he did not have an update on any potential move.
“The prosecutor’s office will continue to be open to exploring potential opportunities as they emerge,” Leffler said in an email.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears was not available for an interview.
Mears has previously said his team is still trying to determine whether moving to the campus was preferable to staying downtown in Two Market Square Center, a Class B office building at 251 E. Ohio St.
He said the hesitancy arises from concerns over how such a move could increase the prosecutor’s operating costs, particularly since his office already signed a much less expensive 16-year, three-month lease extension in 2017.
“This has been a financially driven conversation, in terms of what’s ultimately going to be the cost” of going there “and what are going to be the costs associated with moving,” Mears said in 2021.
Multiple real estate sources said a move to the CJC would cost the prosecutor’s office an additional $7 to $8 per foot per year after factoring in development costs, utilities and other expenses, according to Indianapolis Business Journal.
Kim Reeves, vice president of development services for Browning Investments, also told IBJ in 2021 that any plans for a second professional building at the Community Justice Campus site were “in the hands of the city” and contingent upon finalizing contracts with the Prosecutor’s Office as its anchor tenant.
“The trigger for building No. 2 is based on the prosecutor,” she said. “We’ll work with the city to see how large the second building needs to be” if it moves forward.
She said the building would likely have three to five stories with per-floor square footage that is similar to the first building. It would also include some first-floor commercial uses.
Move of courts not welcomed by all
For some of the downtown attorneys and businesses linked to the legal system, the move of the courts, jail and other city departments from downtown to Twin Aire has eliminated the previous easy access to the judiciary.
Robert Hammerle, an of-counsel attorney specializing in criminal law at Hackman Hulett LLP, said the move of the courts was “regrettable” and had impacted attorneys on multiple levels.
“It’s left downtown a lawyer’s wasteland,” Hammerle said.
Hammerle said that, for lawyers and anyone visiting the Community Justice Campus, there is nowhere to go in terms of restaurants in the area.
He said people on jury duty are getting notice to bring their own lunches due to lack of outside eating options.
Access to court staff is also restricted and the interactions with other attorneys and judges is limited, unlike when court services were consolidated downtown.
“There was a closeness that developed. It was significant. Now that’s all gone,” Hammerle said.
J.P. Penn is the owner of downtown’s J.P. Bail Bonding. He’s been at 114 N. Delaware St. for almost 20 years.
When the courts and jail were still downtown, Penn was able to get walk-in traffic at his bail bonding business, something he said no longer happens during court hours.
“I no longer even go to the office now. I’m on call,” Penn said.
Penn said the move of the courts and jail to Twin Aire came as he was dealing with the emerging prominence of cash bonds, the COVID-19 pandemic and a gradual slowing of business.
He used to have multiple agents and his doors were never locked. Now, it’s just Penn and another agent.
“So, a lot has changed,” Penn said.
Attorneys staying put in downtown Indy
When the move was announced, Jeff Cardella wondered initially if there would be a mass exodus of attorneys from the downtown area to Twin Aire.
Cardella, an Indianapolis criminal defense and expungement attorney with an office on Massachusetts Avenue, acknowledged he also considered buying or renting a building in Twin Aire and leasing it out to bail bond companies and/or attorneys.
He said he has no interest in moving his office to be closer to the CJC.
Pre-pandemic, with the way the law was practiced, Cardella would drive downtown every day, park at his office, walk over to the City-County building and do morning sessions.
Then, he’d walk back to his office for lunch before heading back to the courts for afternoon legal work.
“It was basically half of my day was spent in the City-County building. And I just had to be within walking distance of it,” Cardella said.
After COVID ushered in the expanded use of remote, electronic options for court hearings and client consultations, things changed for Cardella.
He does expungements all over the state now in counties ranging from Dearborn to Lake.
Cardella said there are times when people have to show up for things in person, but he’s able to cast a wider geographic net.
He also does depositions via Zoom calls, although Cardella added that, for civil cases, he thought most attorneys were still doing those in person.
“Being close to this one specific building, it’s just not that important,” Cardella said.
Attorney/client interactions have also changed a lot in the last five years, Cardella noted, with it not being rare now to not meet a client in-person for an expungement case, given online payment options and the technical ability to communicate remotely.
Cardella said he has not heard anyone complain too much about the new CJC site.
One advantage of it is that it has ample parking, something Cardella said was sometimes an issue when the courts were located at the City-County building.
Kevin Potts owns Potts LLC, a downtown criminal defense and personal injury firm located on East Washington Street.
Potts said he did not anticipate or see the need to locate closer to the CJC and described the neighborhood around the campus as still underdeveloped.
With the influx of virtual hearings as well as virtual jail visitation, Potts said it has cut down on the need for day-to-day travel to court.
For Potts, the only downfall is that the move has significantly diminished the personal relationships amongst attorneys, judges and court staff.
“This creates many issues in communication, litigation and case resolution, not to mention the loss of camaraderie amongst the criminal justice community,” Potts said.
Future redevelopment around campus
Penn said he’s not opposed to changing locations, even though he’s been downtown for such an extended period.
At the moment, there’s no available space for lease for him in Twin Aire, Penn noted.
“It would depend on if it could fit my needs,” he said, adding that he would prefer a storefront location like his current site, as well as suitable lighting and a reasonable price.
Penn said he’d like to see a dedicated shuttle running from the City-County building to the jail.
The city released a request for proposal in 2023 regarding redevelopment of the Twin Aire Shopping Center and Twin Aire Drive-In sites.
After receiving five bids, the city held a public meeting where developers discussed their proposed redevelopment plans.
In its statement of need, the city noted that competitive responses would include:
Prioritizing redevelopment of the Twin Aire Shopping Center with expanded mixed use and retail opportunities with an emphasis on preservation and expansion of grocery anchor tenant.
Redevelopment of the Twin Aire Drive-in Site with an emphasis on single family homeownership opportunities and multifamily development–both with a mixture of housing types including workforce and affordable housing options.
Specific component that includes retail and office space for government, nonprofit, health, or career development organizations.
Incorporation of community amenities and benefits.
Wishner said the city and Health and Hospital Corporation are actively engaging in conversations with the developers hat were recommended for selection by the selection committee to thoroughly vet respondent teams and their proposals.
“Once we have finalized negotiations, we will share more information on the planned development phasing and timeline,” Wishner said.
Parel said the goal of building the Community Justice Center was to spur development in the Twin Aire neighborhood.
He said it’s also brought road infrastructure improvements and investments in residential real estate.
A big reason is the more than 2,000 people working at the Community Justice Campus, with close to 4,000 people traveling to the area on a daily basis.
He expects that kind of traffic to help the area “fill in” over the next decade, with more businesses and office space along Southeastern Avenue and surrounding streets.
The Indianapolis Department of Public Works also plans to build a $2.1 million trail along Southeastern Avenue to connect the Twin Aire neighborhood and the city’s Community Justice Campus with downtown.
Construction of the multi-use trail is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
It will stretch for just over one mile along the north side of Southeastern Avenue from Washington Street to Leeds Avenue, near Rural Street.
Wishner said the Southeastern Avenue Multi-Use Trail is under construction and is expected to be completed later this year.•
Demolition is underway on a pair of structures at downtown’s Pan Am Plaza as crews make way for a $250 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center and construction of a 40-story, 800-room Signia by Hilton hotel.
The work is taking place over much of the block bordered by Illinois Street to the east, Georgia Street to the north, Capitol Avenue to the west, and West Louisiana Street to the south. The structures and public spaces being erased from the site include the former Pavilion at Pan Am event center at 201 S. Capitol Ave. and the Pan American Plaza, making way for vertical construction later this spring. A one-story, city-owned structure at 260 S. Illinois St. also is being demolished.
The structures are expected to be fully razed within the next few weeks, according to representatives with the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County, which operates the convention center, and AECOM Hunt, the construction manager for the project. The buildings are being torn down using four excavators.
“Over the course of the next couple of weeks, those structures will be demolished completely back down to the grade, and once that’s done, we’ll clear rubble and start excavation for foundations,” said Bill Sewall, vice president of AECOM Hunt. “In May, we will start to erect a tower crane and begin the foundations for the new Signia tower and convention center expansion. We’re close to that next major milestone.”
The entire sub-grade parking garage below the plaza already has been removed, leaving a gaping hole in the site with only the outer perimeter walls of the structure still in place. The garage will be rebuilt in order to serve the hotel.
The cost of redeveloping Pan Am Plaza is expected to cost more than $750 million, including the Signia by Hilton hotel and the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center.
The latter component will add 143,500 square feet of space, including extensive pre-function space and a 50,000-square-foot ballroom. The project also calls for an enclosed skywalk connecting the addition to the existing convention center across Capitol Avenue.
The 12-story Pan Am Tower office building at the northwest corner of Georgia and Capitol will not be affected by the development.
“We’ve, of course, seen progress since this project got started, but most of that has been underground,” said Andy Mallon, executive director of the CIB. “This [step] is certainly visible from office buildings and hotel rooms throughout downtown, so it’s exciting to hear from people as they see tangible progress being made.”
New utility lines are expected to be run to the site as part of the project, which will involve the closure of Illinois Street’s northbound lanes from April 1 to July 1. That portion of the project will run new steam and chilled water lines, as well as new communication lines from AT&T.
Construction crews and the CIB are working closely with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works to ensure that businesses affected by the closure between Georgia and South streets will still be accessible.
The structure and exterior of the hotel are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Sewall said the project remains on track for an autumn 2026 opening. Of the $410 million allotted for subcontractors on the project, only $19.2 million has been awarded, with 41% of that going toward diverse companies. Several bid packages are set to go out in late April, focused on mechanical, plumbing, drywall, masonry and interior components. Additional bids for more specific interior components like ornamental metals and bathroom fixtures will be due in June.
“Success of those bidding rounds is pretty vital to the remaining success of the project,” Sewall said.
The city of Indianapolis could ultimately pay in excess of $1.6 billion for the redevelopment project, after taking into account the total debt service the city is expected to owe on hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds for the project.
In November, the city sold $581 million in bonds for the development through the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank, consisting of $436.8 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for the hotel portion of the project, and another $155 million for the convention center expansion.
Including interest, the total cost for the project is now expected to be around $1.63 billion.
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