Indy Hotel Development Gets Approval from Historic Preservation Commission

By Jordan Bradley

A burgeoning hotel and entertainment development from Indiana Pacers owner and real estate developer Herb Simon got the necessary green light to move forward at September 4 meeting of the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission.

The forthcoming hotel and entertainment venue’s developer, Boxcar Development LLC, an investment group led by Simon and the rest of the Simon family, had been seeking permission to demolish the vacant and historic CSX building in downtown Indianapolis to make way for a luxury Shinola hotel and a 4,000-seat entertainment venue.

During the early September meeting, the commission unanimously approved the redevelopment of the lot with an 8-0 vote. Historic Preservation Commission President Bill Browne recused himself from the vote as the founder of the design firm for the project, Ratio Architects.

A Boxcar representative noted that Simon will be financing the demolition of the CSX building during the meeting, and that the proof of loan that the commission had asked for was unnecessary.

Dave Kroll, Principal and Director of Preservation at Ratio Architects presented to the Commission on the history of the CSX building, noting it was “built for a very specific use, a very utilitarian warehouse” that had previously been an office building, and has acted as storage and shops since its construction in 1923.

Kroll said there were several hinderances to the rehabilitation of the CSX building, including low ceilings and “inefficient” stairwells, adding that the firm’s presentation showed that “the existing building cannot be rehabilitated for any feasible return on investment.”

The soon-to-be-redeveloped lot sits across the street from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the indoor arena that houses Simon’s Indiana Pacers.
Aside from the 170-room Shinola hotel and Live Nation entertainment venue, the $300 million development will include ground floor commercial space, a parking garage and a skybridge over Pennsylvania Street to connect the development to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

A hearing attendee and councilor representing Indianapolis’s District 18, Kristen Jones, asked the commission to support the demolition and the new development.

Johnson shared with the commission and meeting attendees a previous conversation she had had with the late Jim Morris, Vice Chair of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, about his own support for and enthusiasm about the project before his death this July.

“One of our last conversations before his passing was actually about this project,” Jones recalled, “and he was emphatic—especially about that pedestrian bridge. He was very excited about a development on this parcel, and he would get very excited talking about the pedestrian bridge.”

Materials submitted to the commission for consideration in their decision included details about the development’s design plans, which will include the use of brick, terracotta, metal and granite elements to highlight the area’s history.

Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Secretary Susan Williams said she and the commission “hate to lose” a historic building but the search for an appropriate use for the building had proved challenging over the years.

“If we have to lose this anchor building, on a major corner, it really is wonderful what is being proposed to go there,” Williams said. “I have been on this commission for a long time and I can’t recall seeing a project that was so utterly sensitive to what was there before, to the district in which it lives, and to the historic texture of the area, and so I don’t have anything more to say except ‘congratulations.’ I think this is really, really going to be an important project for the city and is so well designed.”

Boxcar expects to break ground towards the end of 2024, representatives said, with a projected opening date in late 2027.