City and partners break ground on Rawson Hills townhomes in Martindale-Brightwood

City of Indianapolis officials, community leaders and developers gathered in Martindale-Brightwood to break ground on Rawson Hills Townhomes, a seven-unit affordable homeownership project on a formerly vacant hillside lot.

The development, led by the Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation with construction by Stens Construction, was described at the ceremony as part of the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program and the neighborhood’s recently certified Martindale-Brightwood Quality of Life plan. "Today marks an exciting new chapter for this hillside neighborhood," said Jasmine Buchanan, real estate manager for the Martindale Brightwood CDC.

Why it matters: organizers and city officials said the project targets the "missing middle" of households that earn too much to qualify for many assistance programs but still struggle to buy a home. Attendees and speakers framed the project as an opportunity to expand homeownership, help families build equity and revitalize a long-vacant parcel.

Mayor Joe Hogsett, representing the City of Indianapolis, said the project reflects a broader push to convert underused lots into homes. "We are building affordable housing all over our city so that every Indy resident may have a safe place to call home," Hogsett said, and credited the city’s Vacant to Vibrant initiative, the Department of Metropolitan Development and partner organizations for advancing the project.

Speakers named several public and private partners who helped finance or support the development, including the Indianapolis Urban League, the African American Quality of Life Initiative, Old National Bank, Citizens Energy Group, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and federal American Rescue Plan funds and local programs such as Lift Indy. Amina Pearson, executive director of the Martindale Brightwood CDC, said the Rawson Hills project advances goals set in the neighborhood’s plan and the CDC’s multi-year commitment to create more than 30 affordable homes in the area.

The contractor, Beau Anstee, president of Stens Construction, said the project met a local participation goal and will use a diverse group of vendors. "We achieved 30% XPE participation on this job," Anstee said, and told attendees, "we'll start digging holes next week." Several speakers highlighted prior progress in the neighborhood, including six townhomes completed in Brentwood two years earlier.

No formal city vote or land-use action was recorded at the ceremony; the event was a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the start of construction. Organizers identified financing and development partners, but speakers did not provide a full, line-item funding breakdown at the event.

The ceremony closed with community leaders and city officials signaling construction will proceed in the coming weeks and with a request for continued partner support as the project moves toward completion.