| City selects plan for final piece of
former Herron School property |
9/30/2005
Indianapolis – The former Herron School of Art foundry buildings
located at 16th and Alabama will be redeveloped into
neighborhood-based retail, according to a plan city officials will
forward to the Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) today for
approval. The city is recommending selling the three buildings for a
total of $48,000 to the Herron-Morton Place Foundation, Inc., a
501(c) (3) neighborhood organization consisting of local
stakeholders from the area.
Once the sale is complete, the Herron-Morton Place Foundation will
work with a private developer to revitalize the site and attract
neighborhood-friendly retail uses, which could include a combination
of dine-in restaurants and coffee shops, as well as service-based
retail. The foundry redevelopment will begin next year and will
likely take three to four years to complete.
Just last week, the MDC approved the sale of the other three former
Herron School of Art properties to a development team headed-up by
Mansur Real Estate Services, Inc. A mixed-use development --
including a museum of contemporary art, a new charter high school,
artists’ lofts and single family housing -- is planned for those
sites just to the West near 16th and Pennsylvania.
"The neighborhood residents have been very active in working with us
to determine the best reuse for the Herron property, so it is only
appropriate that the Herron-Morton Place Foundation take the lead on
redeveloping the foundry," said Department of Metropolitan
Development Director Maury Plambeck. "The neighborhood retail
planned for the foundry site will be a great complement to the
future mixed-use development on the main campus property."
The MDC will vote on the Herron-Morton Place Foundation proposal
next Wednesday, October 5.
The redevelopment of the entire Herron site will infuse more than
$10 million in private investment in the Near-Northside and serve as
a catalyst for further economic and cultural development Downtown,
Plambeck added.
The redevelopment plans for the Herron property is the culmination
of an extensive planning and public outreach process that began
August 2004. A reuse committee consisting of community stakeholders
and city officials was established to make recommendations regarding
the best possible reuse for the Herron properties, and several
public workshops were held to gather community input. Using this
feedback, the city sent out a request for proposals this Summer that
outlined possible reuses.
Three proposals for the Herron properties were submitted to the
city. All of the proposed plans were presented for public comment,
which was then used in the final decision of the plan’s selection.
The city took ownership of the Herron property this summer after the
Herron School of Art moved into its new facility Downtown on the
campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.
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