Ransom Place Neighbors Fighting Proposal for New Apartment Building

INDIANAPOLIS -- Residents of a historic downtown Indianapolis neighborhood are fighting plans for a new residential building, saying the development threatens to change their neighborhood’s dynamic.

Ransom Place contains some of the city’s oldest homes with just seven blocks, sitting on the west side on downtown. But expansion of nearby hospitals and IUPUI has surrounded the homes.

So neighborhood residents like Paula Brooks say allowing a large project in the neighborhood will further strain parking and encourage the encroachment of student housing. "If that building’s built. It’s over," she said, adding that the viability of the neighborhood should be at the top of everyone's list.

Developers Studio 3 want to construct an apartment building for about 100 people and some houses on the corner of 10th and Martin Luther King Jr. streets. The structures would be built on currently vacant lots.

The firm has made changes to their plan in response to complaints, said Tim Cover. They’ve lowered the height of the building, split the proposed duplexes into four single-family homes and they’ve added more on-site parking.

"We truly want to be an integrated portion of this neighborhood, or a part. And as such, we’ve providing, creating, community space within the development dedicated to that purpose," Cover told the Historic Preservation Commission in September.

Since Ransom Place is a historic neighborhood, the project must win over the commission. That board meets again Wednesday evening to further discuss the proposal.