Downtown Indianapolis Retail – Expanding on a Tradition

Herb and Mel Simon of Simon Property Group and former Indianapolis Mayors Bill Hudnut and Steve Goldsmith, as well as a host of others should be applauded for their tenacity and vision in attracting or twisting arms to bring a significant retail presence to downtown Indianapolis with the development of the Circle Centre Mall. The three-block long, four-story urban, regional mall opened in 1995 with 785,000 SF/GLA anchored by Nordstrom and Parisian. Without strong leadership and significant investment by many of the downtown stakeholders, Circle Centre Mall would have never been developed. The mall continues to succeed as a regional destination and draws heavily from the tourist and convention business in downtown Indianapolis. How can we continue this tradition of great vision and convince a different category of retailers, ie. neighborhood services, to follow the wave of residents migrating to the urban core? Furthermore, like Circle Centre, how can we get these retailers to locate downtown without using their typical suburban development schemes of large parcels with an abundance of parking lots? The new residents that are flocking to downtown Indianapolis are ready, willing and able to buy the goods and services. This trend is partly the reason for the $2.7M upgrade to the City Market that was announced this week. Downtown residents need goods and services just like other neighborhoods. Milhaus is going to the International Council of Shopping Centers Global Retail Convention in Las Vegas this weekend. This topic will be at the forefront of our minds as we begin promoting the redevelopment of the Bank One Operations Center, the first true mixed use development in the Market District on the eastern edge of downtown. What is it going to take to entice more neighborhood service-type retailers and offices to locate their businesses downtown? Let us know your thoughts.