YMCA to Begin Construction on $22M Project at CityWay in Downtown Indianapolis Next Month

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The YMCA of Greater Indianapolis will break ground on a new $22 million facility at the CityWay development in downtown Indianapolis next month.

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, the organization’s trustees approved the project’s July 16 construction start after having raised $17 million of the total development cost. Fundraising will continue as construction progresses, the newspaper reports.

Slated to rise on the southeast corner of Delaware and South streets, south of the Alexander Hotel, the YMCA at CityWay will include a three-story, 87,000-square-foot building with retail space on the ground level and an adjoining two-story, 12,000-square-foot medical office building.

Upon completion by the end of 2015, the new facility will offer two indoor swimming indoor pools, three full-size gyms, and a green roof with space for outdoor classes.

The project will be developed on a site leased from Eli Lilly and Co. The Lilly Foundation, the drug manufacturer’s philanthropic arm, contributed $5 million toward the cost of the facility through the Y’s “Strengthening the Heart of the City Campaign,” an initiative meant to bring full-service centers to underserved areas.

“We’re indebted to Eli Lilly and The Lilly Foundation for their generosity,” Eric J. Ellsworth, CEO of the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, said in a news release. “The new CityWay YMCA will allow us to provide enriching programs to Lilly employees, our neighbors on the southeast side and the entire downtown community.”

Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects is the designer of the project, while Shiel Sexton Co. Inc. is the general contractor.

Developed by Buckingham Co., CityWay is a new 10-acre neighborhood at South and Delaware streets. The $155 million project also encompasses a mix of 320 high-quality residences, office and retail space, the 157-key, LEED-certified Alexander hotel and a public park.

According to John B. Cumming, Buckingham’s senior vice president of development, the YMCA project will be a real amenity for CityWay residents, as well as a catalyst for the neighborhood’s retail and restaurant tenants.

Photo credits: Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects