My latest post is at Urban Indy. It focuses on two small multi-family apartment or townhome developments in Fountain Square and Bates-Hendricks, neighborhoods on the near south side of Indianapolis’ downtown that, while still very gritty, have become increasingly trendy in recent years. Both neighborhoods still have their fair share of dilapidated housing and some vacant lots, but that is quickly changing, thanks in no small part to the initiatives of Southeast Neighborhood Development (SEND), the local CDC, which is targeting contemporary infill in an unusual, strategic manner.
Here is Phase I of the Carburetor Lofts, in Fountain Square, fully leased:
And here is Phase I of the East Street Flats in Bates-Hendricks, nearing completion:
Most of these units are 120% of AMI, which, for an inexpensive city such as Indianapolis, is more or less a steal. SEND’s goal was to meet some untapped demand for sleek modern architecture in neighborhoods that would support them, but would still offer a much lower price point than northside neighborhoods like Herron-Morton (which is also welcoming its share of much, much pricier contemporary infill housing). The article reviews each contemporary infill building on its own terms, gauging the success of the urban design and likelihood that they will help sustain each neighborhood’s growing viability within the demographic that actively seeks urban living. Comments are welcome, either here or on the Urban Indy webpage; I will do my best to respond.
4 thoughts on “Contemporary infill gentrification.”
the carb. lofts in fountain square are completely out of context in terms of use for the area, but it was an effort to stop dollar general from creating more surface parking lot so I guess this is better than nothing. if you drive down the street though they look marooned on the edge of shelby st. but I guess in the future the first floors could be turned into retail or office.
Thanks for the observations. From my interviews on the Carburetor Lofts two years ago, the intention was always to expand further on the remaining vacant space, which at least will make the existing projects seem like less of an anomaly. Thus, the name was Carburetor Lofts Phase I. I’m not sure if anything else is on the pipes at this point. With regards to the existing structures, those first floors are still awfully small for anything other than microretail, but perhaps that was the original point. I had no idea they were built to fend off a parking lot expansion. Has the Dollar General over there ever really suffered from a completely full parking lot?
I agree with the first comment, it drives me crazy driving down shelby and seeing those little buildings so out of context, like if you were to have a house across the street from the stadium or on meridian. They’re completely marooned but I also agree that it’s better than nothing, we don’t need more parking lot over there, there’s already too much, at least if FORTE gets built it’ll help repair the broken smile that is half of shelby.
Thanks for the comments, Tyler. My computer is down, so that has delayed my ability to respond. Supposedly the Carburetor Lofts were going to get a few additional units on the vacant land to the north, but clearly there’s no evidence of that happening. And the work/live dichotomy intended for each of these units does not seem to have really taken off. I agree that densification elsewhere should help the look of the area, so time will tell.