Browning Investments Obtain Preliminary Approval for $25M Mixed-Use Project Over Community Objections

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

A proposed $25 million residential and retail project in Broad Ripple has received its first approval from the Metropolitan Development Commission. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, a final decision regarding the rezoning of the 2-acre property northeast of the intersection of College Avenue and the Central Canal is expected on Sept. 4.

Local developer Browning Investments’ plans for the site include a 104-unit apartment building and a 33,500-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store. Plans also call for a four-story parking garage with 340 spaces.

During the hearing, about three dozen business owners and residents from the area have shown their opposition to the project, which is deemed too large for the low-rise neighborhood.

Browning Investments principal Jamie Browning on the other hand was pleased with the outcome.

“The project will have a positive impact on Broad Ripple, and hopefully the process will move forward,” he told the newspaper.

In other news, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports that a group of Meyer-Najem investors have partnered with the non-profit Irvington Development Organization to build an $11 million apartment and medical office project in the city’s Irvington historic district.

The residential component includes the 50-unit Irvington Lofts apartment building currently under construction at the site of the former Indy East Motel at 5855 E. Washington Street.

Financed through the sale of state-issued tax credits from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the complex is expected to welcome its first residents as soon as this fall. Amenities include a green roof, a community garden, plenty of meeting space and a courtyard.

The developers have also begun work on the reconversion of an adjacent 50-year-old structure into a 5,900-square-foot medical facility that will be occupied by Franciscan St. Francis Health. Construction is expected to be complete by next spring.

Photo credits: Browning Investments