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Record of Proceedings

Metropolitan Development Commission Public Meeting Summary - March 5, 2025

Metropolitan Development Commission — Wednesday, March 5, 2025
BodyIndianapolis, Indiana
SessionMetropolitan Development Commission
DateWednesday, March 5, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:05

With all the lawyers in the room representing clients, please come up to the front, please for a moment.

0:17

Right here.

0:17

Russell, counselor.

1:55

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

1:57

Welcome to the Metropolitan Development Commission public meeting of March 5th, 2025.

2:04

Please rise and join me with the Pledge of Allegiance.

2:13

To the plan of the United States of America.

2:17

And to the Republic for which it stands.

2:28

Thank you.

2:36

Members of the Commission.

2:38

Last week you received the minutes of the February nineteenth, twenty twenty five meeting, and you've had an opportunity to review those.

2:46

Is there any additions or deletions to those minutes?

2:52

Hearing now take a motion to approve the minutes of February nineteenth, twenty twenty-five.

2:57

So moved.

2:58

Have a second.

2:59

Second.

2:59

Thank you.

3:00

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

3:02

Aye.

3:03

Those opposed.

3:05

Moving forward, we have a bid opening today.

3:08

Staff, would you please come forward?

3:10

Is going to handle this?

3:28

Come on up.

3:31

This is for the RFP thirteen DMD twenty twenty-four Z Central State Adaptive Reuse.

3:40

We have one bid from Eway Global Media Development Division.

3:45

I will now turn this over to staff for evaluation and recommendations back to the commission.

3:51

Thank you very much.

3:54

Moving forward.

4:01

Special requests that are present.

4:08

Counselor.

4:12

Good afternoon, President Dillon, uh members of the Commission, Joe Calter and Eleven South Meridian, Indianapolis, uh four six two oh four.

4:20

This does appear on your uh special request portion of your docket, and it is a request for the waiver of your uh one uh one year refiling rule uh related to uh twenty eight fifty two East County Line Road.

4:38

Uh the case, if so granted, that would move forward is twenty twenty-five ZON of one six.

4:45

If I may just uh say a couple of things about the request.

4:49

Um my client is TWG development, which most of all of you are familiar, they are a major player uh in the development uh world at uh here in Indianapolis and particularly in the affordable housing sector, and that's what this petition would seek to do.

5:06

The previous petition that was denied, and I was not involved in that at all, was for a self-storage facility.

5:14

Uh so this is a different developer, a different project.

5:17

The urgency for this is for those of you who have probably heard before, even if you're not familiar in the affordable housing uh side of things, there are hard deadlines that are uh set by IHCDA.

5:32

So zoning has to be completed uh by a certain date in order to qualify for tax tax credit application purposes.

5:41

So that's kind of driving the urgency, and we would respectfully request consideration of the waiver of the refiling since it's a different developer and completely different project.

5:53

Thoughts from staff, please, Eddie.

5:59

Thank you, President Dillon, the members of the commission.

6:01

Staff is supportive of this request on two grounds.

6:05

It is a different developer, and it is substantially different than what was previously denied by the commission.

6:10

Um it was a request to industrial for self-storage.

6:14

Um, but more and more to the point is that this is a property that frequently comes before staff for inquiry purposes.

6:21

It is zone CS.

6:23

That CS development statement, uh, the way that it's written, it was done very hastily in the early 2000s.

6:29

It effectively renders the site undevelopable.

6:32

So, in order to allow for the site to be developed with any use, staff uh would recommend approval of this request for a waiver and would note that uh multifamily is uh consistent with its comprehensive plan recommendation of residential and would take any questions the commission may have.

6:49

Questions for staff from the members of the commission.

6:53

Question, President Dillon.

6:54

Yes, Commissioner Murphy.

6:55

So, staff, given what you know about the nature of the proposed development or what they're looking at, what is the most likely rezoning um category that they would be requesting?

7:08

D.

7:10

I would defer to Joe on that one.

7:12

I think the request is D9.

7:14

I think that uh my client has been working with Mr.

7:17

York on that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning and Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Procedural███████████12%
Historic Preservation███████████12%
Affordable Housing████████9%
Real Estate████████8%
Budget████4%
Economic Development████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Metropolitan Development Commission Public Meeting Summary - March 5, 2025

The Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) of Indianapolis convened publicly on March 5, 2025, with President Dillon presiding. The agenda included approving minutes, opening a bid for the Central State Adaptive Reuse project, ruling on a waiver of the refiling rule, deliberating continuances, and conducting public hearings on major tax abatements and a significant city loan for the Old City Hall redevelopment.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: The commission unanimously approved the minutes from the February 19, 2025 meeting.
  • Petitions of No Appeal: Three petitions (2024 ZON030, 2024 ZON097, 2024 ZON135) recommended for approval by the hearing examiner were approved en bloc (8-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Greg Zubek, attorney for remonstrators opposing a continuance for case 2024 ZON073 (2155 Kessler Boulevard), argued that the recent plan changes (reducing lots from 43 to 35) were not substantial enough to warrant another delay. He stated his clients opposed the continuance and requested the matter be heard that day.

Discussion Items

Bid Opening

  • RFP 13 DMD 2024 Z (Central State Adaptive Reuse): One bid was received from Eway Global Media Development Division for evaluation.

Waiver of 12-Month Refiling Rule (2025 ZON 016)

  • Joe Calder, representing TWG Development, requested a waiver of the one-year refiling rule for 2852 East County Line Road. He stated the previous petition was for a self-storage facility, while the new proposal is for an affordable housing development. He cited hard deadlines from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) as the reason for urgency.
  • Staff supported the waiver, noting it is a different developer and a substantially different project (multifamily residential consistent with the comprehensive plan versus the previously denied industrial self-storage). The site is currently zoned CS, which staff described as effectively rendering it undevelopable.
  • Vote: The motion passed 6-2. Commissioners James and Moreity voted against. President Dillon voted yes reluctantly.

Withdrawal of Petition (2024 ZON 096)

  • Attorney John Cross noted the petitioner wished to withdraw the petition, which the commission acknowledged.

Continuance Request (2024 ZON 073 / 073B)

  • Staff requested a continuance to March 19 to review recent filings and site plan updates. Remonstrators, represented by Greg Zubek, objected.
  • Vote: The commission voted to grant the continuance. Commissioner Garver cast the sole dissenting vote (7-1).

Continuance Request (2024 ZON 115)

  • Staff requested a continuance to April 16 to allow further discussion on infrastructure improvements.
  • Joe Calder, representing the petitioner, supported the request. President Dillon stated a specific dollar amount from Public Works and a developer commitment would be needed before the commission could approve the zoning.
  • Vote: The motion to continue to April 16, 2025 passed 8-0.

Public Hearing: 2025 R013 (Old City Hall / TWG Tower)

  • Chase Smith of TWG Development presented an updated plan for the redevelopment of Old City Hall and the adjacent parking lot. The project, in partnership with 21C Museum Hotels, includes: 23 condos, 186 apartments (5% at 30% Area Median Income), 156 hotel rooms, and office/retail/museum space.
  • The total project cost is over $205 million. To close a financing gap caused by higher costs and interest rates, TWG requested a $50 million loan from the City of Indianapolis.
  • Vote: The resolution passed 7-0. President Dillon recused himself.

Public Hearing: 2025 A011 (Monon Trail Townhomes)

  • Staff (Kathy Battle) presented a proposal from ONEX+ East LLC for 57 residential units (53 townhomes, 4 single-family) at 2060 Yandis Street. The project commits 7 units (13%) as affordable housing at 60% AMI for 10 years and includes $1.5M in public infrastructure. A 10-year real property tax abatement was requested.
  • Vote: The resolution passed 8-0.

Public Hearing: 2025 A012 (Molto Properties Amendment)

  • Staff (Letitia Ramsey) presented an amendment to extend job schedule dates for Stanley Epler (Molto Properties). DMD supported the amendment.
  • Vote: The resolution passed 8-0.

Key Outcomes

  • Waiver Granted: The 12-month refiling rule was waived for TWG’s affordable housing project at 2852 East County Line Road (6-2).
  • Major Loan Approved: The $50 million city loan for the TWG/21C Old City Hall redevelopment project was authorized (7-0, 1 recusal).
  • Monon Trail Abatement: A 10-year tax abatement was granted for the 57-unit townhome project at 2060 Yandis Street (8-0).
  • Infrastructure Discussion: Continuance granted for 2024 ZON115 to April 16 to finalize a voluntary infrastructure contribution.
  • Zoning Case Delayed: Case 2024 ZON073 continued to March 19 over remonstrator objections (7-1).
  • Zoning Withdrawn: The petition for 2024 ZON096 was formally withdrawn.
  • Central State RFP: Bid received and referred to staff for evaluation.

Meeting Transcript

With all the lawyers in the room representing clients, please come up to the front, please for a moment. Right here. Russell, counselor. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to the Metropolitan Development Commission public meeting of March 5th, 2025. Please rise and join me with the Pledge of Allegiance. To the plan of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. Thank you. Members of the Commission. Last week you received the minutes of the February nineteenth, twenty twenty five meeting, and you've had an opportunity to review those. Is there any additions or deletions to those minutes? Hearing now take a motion to approve the minutes of February nineteenth, twenty twenty-five. So moved. Have a second. Second. Thank you. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed. Moving forward, we have a bid opening today. Staff, would you please come forward? Is going to handle this? Come on up. This is for the RFP thirteen DMD twenty twenty-four Z Central State Adaptive Reuse. We have one bid from Eway Global Media Development Division. I will now turn this over to staff for evaluation and recommendations back to the commission. Thank you very much. Moving forward. Special requests that are present. Counselor. Good afternoon, President Dillon, uh members of the Commission, Joe Calter and Eleven South Meridian, Indianapolis, uh four six two oh four. This does appear on your uh special request portion of your docket, and it is a request for the waiver of your uh one uh one year refiling rule uh related to uh twenty eight fifty two East County Line Road. Uh the case, if so granted, that would move forward is twenty twenty-five ZON of one six. If I may just uh say a couple of things about the request. Um my client is TWG development, which most of all of you are familiar, they are a major player uh in the development uh world at uh here in Indianapolis and particularly in the affordable housing sector, and that's what this petition would seek to do. The previous petition that was denied, and I was not involved in that at all, was for a self-storage facility. Uh so this is a different developer, a different project. The urgency for this is for those of you who have probably heard before, even if you're not familiar in the affordable housing uh side of things, there are hard deadlines that are uh set by IHCDA. So zoning has to be completed uh by a certain date in order to qualify for tax tax credit application purposes. So that's kind of driving the urgency, and we would respectfully request consideration of the waiver of the refiling since it's a different developer and completely different project. Thoughts from staff, please, Eddie. Thank you, President Dillon, the members of the commission. Staff is supportive of this request on two grounds. It is a different developer, and it is substantially different than what was previously denied by the commission. Um it was a request to industrial for self-storage. Um, but more and more to the point is that this is a property that frequently comes before staff for inquiry purposes. It is zone CS. That CS development statement, uh, the way that it's written, it was done very hastily in the early 2000s. It effectively renders the site undevelopable.

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