Indianapolis Real Estate Investments on the Rise

Change is coming to Indianapolis as large investments bring new hotels, office conversions, and mixed-use developments to downtown and Midtown. According to Sara Coers, associate director of the Indiana University Center for Real Estate Studies and a Kelley School of Business professor, the city's real estate market is on fire due to the decline of the office market.

"The Circle Tower building was recently announced, they're going to convert that to a hotel," Coers said. "Emmis building is for sale, and we have some really prime pieces that are suddenly up for rethinking all because of the decline of the office market."

Coers notes that an office building near The Children's Museum of Indianapolis will soon be reimagined into something new. "New City (Development), the developer for that project, has owned that office for a while and they're realizing, 'Hey, we've got all this space, all this unused parking, and this gives us a chance to rethink and reinvigorate the office in a different way than someone who is trying to convert the office to a different use,'" Coers said. "They're trying to keep the office and activate the area around it."

Coers emphasizes that office space is not dead in Indianapolis; it just needs to be rethought. "Bring more density to the area. Get people living there. Get people going there because they're taking their kids to the dance studio," Coers said. "Maybe there's retail nearby that they can go to and that's the kind of office that people want to work in. They want to be where they live, where they're shopping, where they're eating."

Some investments are yet to be announced. Keystone Group recently purchased property on the northwest quadrant of the Circle for a mix of residential, retail, and hospitality developments. The development group says the project will likely include rooftop views, outdoor amenities, and parking.