Officials Green Light Apartment Project in Indianapolis

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Plans are moving forward for the $50 million Montage on Mass apartment and retail development in downtown Indianapolis. The project’s design has recently been approved by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.

Montage on Mass in Indianapolis

Proposed by developers J.C. Hart Co. Inc., Strongbox Commercial and architect Schmidt and Associates, Montage on Mass is set to include a five-story, 236-unit apartment building with about 37,000 square feet of retail space on the main level. The project will rise near Old National Centre, at the site of a fire station and credit union located at the Massachusetts Avenue’s intersection with North New Jersey Street. The area is close to many stores and conveniences in downtown Indianapolis such as City Market and Circle Centre Mall.

The commission has yet to approve a plan for an art display or “digital canvas” on the building that has been reduced in size from its original design. The decision is expected by early next year.

This delay is related to a federal suit filed by a local billboard firm against the City of Indianapolis, claiming a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision makes the city’s ban on digital billboards unconstitutional.

The site of the upcoming Montage on Mass is part of a large land-swap deal involving the city. Under the agreement, the fire department’s headquarters is set to move into the existing American Red Cross building at 441 E. 10th St., where a new fire station is being built. Meanwhile, the Red Cross should move to 1510 N. Meridian St. by the end of the year, once its $9.9 million, 24,000-square-foot headquarters there is ready for move-in. Furthermore, a new credit union will be built to the west of the existing Firefighters Union building at 748 Massachusetts Ave.

Image courtesy of Schmidt and Associates