May 3, 2010

Once the site of two abandoned gas stations, the Douglass Pointe Lofts now stand out as a thriving mixed use development in downtown Indianapolis. The new live/work development, in a neighborhood with historically high crime rates, houses nine businesses and residential apartments, including Goose the Market, a specialty grocery that has been said to have created Indianapolis’s best sandwich.

Abandoned for over 15 years, the two gas stations were located in a neighborhood filled with vacant lots and boarded up homes previously known as “Dodge City” because of its high crime rate. In 2001, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a $4 million Home Ownership Grant to redevelop the entire neighborhood into what is now known as the Fall Creek Place redevelopment. The initial grant has allowed for the redevelopment of 70 existing residential units and the creation of over 300 new residential units on the abandoned infill lots and demolition sites throughout the neighborhood. In 2003, three of the four corners where the Douglass Pointe Lofts are now located were targeted for Brownfield redevelopment initiated by Indianapolis, Mansur Real Estate Services, and a nonprofit Community Development Corporation Partner, King Park Area Development Corporation. The sites were purchased by the city with HUD acquisition funds allocated for blight removal as part of the greater redevelopment strategy.

After purchasing the site, Indianapolis contracted consultants to conduct environmental assessments. Remediation activities began in 2003 after the acquisition and the assessments were completed. In addition to soil removal due to petroleum contamination, the contractors removed underground storage tanks and pipes left from the gas stations. One of the sites was also noted to have possible contamination from chlorinated solvents from an abandoned dry cleaner across the street. Extra preventative measures were taken towards any potential off'site migration of the solvents, including the requirement that new residential units include vapor mitigation systems to prevent solvent vapor intrusion. In 2004, the state environmental agency provided “No Further Action” letter for each site, stating that the cleanup met all residential remediation standards.

Working with the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development Division of Community Economic Development, King Park Area Development Corporation and Mansur Real Estate Services began construction on the sites in 2006. Today, the former gas stations are now the Douglass Point Lofts – three stories of nine residential and commercial units. The commercial units have large display windows and two floors above of living space for business owners. The tenants include a Yoga and fitness studio, a salon, an advertising consulting firm and the Indianapolis favorite, Goose the Market, known for a sandwich that has been called one of the best in the country.

The $4.5 million dollar project was completed in 2007 with help from the initial HUD grant and an EPA Underground Storage Tank pilot grant. The King Park Area Development Corporation received the property from the city following remediation, and worked with a private development corporation called Minkis Homes and the lead neighborhood developer, Mansur Real Estate Services, to structure the remainder of the financing. After completion of the site, 23 permanent professional and retail jobs were created, along with 30 temporary construction jobs during the development.

Although Indianapolis often partners with the Indiana State Brownfields Program and the EPA Region 5 Brownfields Program to help tackle brownfield redevelopment projects, the city continually encourages Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and private developers to team up and “take the Brownfield challenge.” As in the case of Douglass Point Lofts, the city worked to gain federal grant assistance to remedy the environmental conditions because the Community Corporation and private developer took responsibility for the redevelopment. The Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development’s Brownfields Program and Division of Community Economic Development led the remediation funded by federal grants and then allowed the CDC and developer to take over the project in accordance with city and state residential regulations.

Providing new life to what used to be an abandoned and avoided area, the Douglass Point Lofts have transformed an area of a distressed neighborhood just two miles from the center of Indianapolis. In addition to reintroducing businesses, adding the live/work combination has started to revive sustainable development patterns with accessibility and walkability.

Although the Fall Creek Place redevelopment began two mayoral administrations ago, Mayor Gregory Ballard and his SustainIndy program are using it as a model for additional green redevelopment throughout the city. In fact, thanks in part to Fall Creek Place’s success, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities - a collaboration between the federal Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency - chose Indianapolis as one of five cities in which to demonstrate efforts to promote development in more efficient and sustainable locations.