INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis City-County Council has approved plans for the construction of a $155 million mixed-use project near Lucas Oil Stadium. The City also agreed to issue $86 million in bond financing to help fund the project. This is in addition to the $15 million the City and State have already committed to fund infrastructure improvements.
North of South will be constructed on a 10-acre parking lot located along South Street between Delaware Street and Virginia Avenue. The parking lot had formerly been used by Eli Lilly & Co., which maintains its corporate headquarters nearby. Eli Lilly is partnering with local developer Buckingham Cos. to redevelop the site. At full build-out, North of South will contain 320 upscale apartments, 40,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, a hotel operated by Dolce Hotels & Resorts, and a new flagship YMCA.
The project's residential component will contain a mix of studio to three-bedroom apartments and townhomes. Eli Lilly plans to use some of the units as corporate housing that will provide easy access to its 15,000-employee campus. Apartment amenities will include a swimming pool and clubhouse, rooftop terraces and structured parking.
Dolce plans to construct a 158-room hotel that will also contain 15,000 square feet of meeting and conference center space. The conference center will be able to tap into the multiple corporate campuses that surround the North of South site. In addition to Eli Lilly, Rolls Royce operates a 2,500-employee campus, Wellpoint operates a 3,500-employee campus and Farm Bureau operates a 1,500-empoloyee campus. The site is also located near the Indianapolis central business district.
The new YMCA will total 75,000 square feet, effectively tripling the city's membership capacity. In addition, a mixed-use office building will be constructed that will provide 10,000-square-foot incubator units. The flex office space will cater to life sciences companies, affiliates of Eli Lilly and potential lab tenants. It will also be located near what the developers hope to be a Certified Technology Park.
The construction timetable for the project was not released.
— Coleman Wood