The Midtown Anchor Coalition – The Midtown Anchor Coalition which includes Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association, Butler University, Christian Theological Seminary, Citizens Energy Group, Crown Hill Cemetery, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the International School, and Midtown Inc., have come together to impact the stability of the neighborhoods surrounding their campuses.  This group represents over 4.4 million square feet of buildings, 1,300 acres of land, 19,000 students and 4,000 employees.

The Monon Trail and Bike Lanes – Expect to see more office and commercial development along the Monon Trail and areas easily accessible by foot or bike. Millennials are far more likely than previous generations to use alternate transportation, including biking, walking and taking public transit to work. With the Monon Trail, the Central Canal Towpath and over 74 miles of bike lanes in downtown Indy, companies are increasingly looking for office space in Midtown.

The Red Rapid Transit Line – The City will apply for a $40 million to $50 million grant in the fall to build a segment of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line from Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis. The Redline is ultimately designed to run from Carmel to Greenwood, along College Avenue and Meridian Street.  If the grant is approved, construction would likely begin in 2017, and office and retail development is expected in proximity to the stops on the line.

Midtown Master Plan – Over the last six years, Midtown Indianapolis, Inc. and the Maple Road Development Association have put forth a comprehensive effort to define development plans for targeted areas in Midtown. This group has made significant progress and there are several development projects either in the planning stages or underway that will affect the commercial real estate landscape of Midtown. These include The Coil project by Browning Investments at College Avenue along the canal, the potential sale and redevelopment of the AT&T property at 58th Street & College Avenue, and the purchase of the former Double 8 Foods site at 46th Street and College Avenue.

Millennials – Due to their sheer numbers, this generation will transform Midtown Indianapolis.   While the millennials are filling the 12,000+ new multifamily units constructed in the last 5+ years in downtown, apartment living is not conducive to raising a family. Rather than moving to the suburbs to raise their families, the millennials will want to live and work in walkable, bikeable neighborhoods with character, and will choose Midtown over the northern suburbs. One caveat to this prediction – they will only stay if the City of Indianapolis can provide quality schools in the IPS system. Some of the IPS magnet schools do an outstanding job, but our capitol city has to fund and fix the overall performance of all IPS schools in order to be a truly vibrant, world class city that attracts an young, educated workforce.

 

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