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Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Once marked for demolition, the Drake building sells to developer for senior housing project
An Indianapolis development commission approved the sale of the historic Drake building adjacent to The Children's Museum on June 18, paving the way for 30 affordable senior apartments in a corridor ripe with public transit along North Meridian Street. After the redevelopment, the vacant building that was once set for demolition will turn into apartments for residents age 55 and older. The 27-unit, 41,000-square-foot building at 3060 N. Meridian St. sits along the IndyGo Red Line, making it an ideal site for affordable housing, city officials said when they sought to preserve the building. The Metropolitan Development Commission unanimously approved the resolution for the city to sell the building to ALK Development. Andrea Kent, founder of ALK Development, said she hopes to add a few more units, bringing the building's total capacity to 30 residences. In her previous role at TWG Development, Kent developed the Illinois Street Senior, another senior housing development just north of downtown. ALK Development, which Kent founded three years ago with an emphasis on affordable housing, was one of five developers to respond to the city's request for proposals for the site in 2023. The Drake, standing since 1929, was once a sign of luxury that welcomed its first inhabitants at the end of the golden age of building in the city. By 2016, though, an affiliate company of The Children's Museum that owned the building determined it to be too expensive to maintain as apartments. In 2019, the museum marked the building for demolition to expand its campus, leading the city to quickly designate the building as historic to protect the site. This move exposed the contrasting long-term visions between the cultural institution, the neighbors and the city for the future of the Meridian Park neighborhood. A few years later, the museum's affiliate sued the city, saying the designation had been imposed improperly. Eventually, the city acquired the Drake apartments for about $1 million to prepare for future redevelopment. Kent said the condition of the building has deteriorated over the nearly 10 years it has sat vacant, but she believes the property is still salvageable for future residents. The project will likely qualify for low-income tax credits and federal historic tax credits, and ALK will apply for a tax abatement, Kent said. The Drake drama: The Children's Museum, the city and the neighborhood: The battle for the Drake apartments Metropolitan Development Commission President John Dillon told Kent the building has been an important project for the commission over the years because of its historic significance and the long, winding road to redevelopment. "We've been following this. We've been up and down like we're on a rollercoaster," Dillon said of the Drake. "We've got a lot of historical pride, so we wish you the best."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What's next for Indiana Women's Prison site? What we know so far
As the city of Indianapolis takes steps to redevelop the long-vacant Indiana Women's Prison property, a Near Eastside group has started a separate project to tell former inmates' stories. The Metropolitan Development Commission Wednesday approved $10,000 of city money for a two-day planning session about the old prison's future with city planners, community groups and economic development organizations. The Urban Land Institute, an economic development nonprofit, will use the sessions to create a report about how much a developer would have to pay to make needed repairs and what uses would fit best into the Willard Park neighborhood. Founded in 1873, the 401 N. Randolph St. property was the nation's first women's prison and housed inmates until 2009. After the prison moved to its current Girls School Road location, the site served as the Indianapolis Re-Entry Educational Facility until 2017. Since then, neighbors have lamented a lack of transparency about what's going on at the 15-acre eyesore in their neighborhood. After a land swap with the state gave Indianapolis control of the site last year, the city will engage ULI to help find the "highest and best use" that retains the property's historical significance. The city will likely put out a request for developers' proposals later this year. Any plans should preserve historic elements like the prison chapel, the prayer labyrinth and the original wrought iron fence, said Joey Newsom, president of the Willard Park Neighborhood Association and a vocal advocate for the site's reuse. He wants to see market-rate housing with lower-income units set aside, he told IndyStar. "This is in the middle of a neighborhood, so it needs to make sense with the neighborhood, which probably means housing," Newsom said. "It'd be really nice to get a grocery store in this food desert, but I don't see that happening." In the meantime, the city will hire a security company and may install temporary lighting to ward off trespassers, according to city planner Piers Kirby. This spring, crews will mow lawns, scrub off graffiti and board up windows to protect the remaining buildings. Environmental testing will show whether underground storage tanks or old dry-cleaning facilities could restrict potential uses, Kirby said. Retro Indy: How the oldest women's prison in the country came to be Aside from the city's efforts, a Near Eastside organization will produce a podcast series and a research archive that tell the stories of formerly incarcerated women. In a project led by social impact studio City Rising, former inmates and community members will take part in oral histories, creative writing workshops and public forums to document their experiences at the prison. To be released over the course of the next year, "Beyond These Gates" will center the voices of women who spent decades imprisoned at the site. The original Indiana Women's Prison had two distinct departments. The reformatory housed girls under 15 who were imprisoned because of 'incorrigible or vicious conduct," while the penal section held women and older girls who had been convicted of criminal offenses. Over the years, the prison witnessed escapes, suicides, arson, fires and an 1879 typhoid epidemic that hospitalized 35 and claimed the life of one inmate. "The redevelopment of the former prison site should not erase the people who once called it home, even temporarily," City Rising founder Mark Latta wrote in a blog post announcing an Indiana Humanities Council grant paying for the remembrance project. "Instead, it should serve as a space of reflection, education, and community dialogue." Email IndyStar Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@ Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09 This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What's next for Indianapolis women's prison site on near eastside
