City Approves Pedestrian Skywalk for Downtown Parking Garage

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The Metropolitan Development Commission has approved Flaherty & Collins Properties’ request to add two upper-level pedestrian connectors to the five-story parking garage planned for downtown Indianapolis.

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, one of the bridges would lead to West New York Street to the south of the garage, connecting directly to the OneAmerica Tower, while the other would extend over Vermont Street to the north and onto steps leading to a surface parking lot.

Locally based OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc. will eventually own the 1,000-space parking facility, which is set to include at least 1,500 square feet of street-level retail. Construction could be completed by late fall, Jim Crossin, Flaherty’s director of development told the newspaper.

The approximately $13 million cost of the structure is being funded by the city through tax increment financing. The garage is the first step of Flaherty & Collins Properties’ $85 million mixed-use project planned for the near north side of downtown Indianapolis.

Dubbed “Block 400″, the development would replace a block and a half of surface parking lots with two buildings featuring ground floor retail, a total of 330 apartments, a 40,000-square-foot urban prototype Marsh Supermarket, as well as parking facilities offering more than 1,500 spaces.

A major part of the land is owned by OneAmerica. “It has been a privilege to help pave the way for this development, and we look forward to welcoming Marsh and other new tenants to the neighborhood,” Dayton Molendorp, chairman, president and CEO of OneAmerica commented in a statement.

The Block 400 development will offer upscale one and two bedroom apartments, featuring granite countertops, roman tubs and stainless steel appliances. Other amenities include a fitness center, heated saltwater pool and sundeck. Rents are expected to range between $1,075 and $2,200 per month, in an area that registered a 5 percent vacancy rate during this year’s third quarter.

The entire mixed-use project is anticipated to create 830 construction jobs, 160 permanent jobs and generate $1.3 million in annual property tax revenue.

Photo credits: flahertycollins.prospectportal.com

Chart courtesy of Marcus & Millichap