City-County Council authorizes taxable bonds for Old City Hall redevelopment, 24-1

The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday authorized the issuance of taxable economic development lease-rental revenue bonds and the execution of a lease for the Old City Hall reuse project, approving the proposal 24 to 1.

Councilors said the project combines private investment with city-owned property to repurpose a long-vacant asset and add publicly accessible elements downtown. "We have a developer at the table who is willing to invest their private dollars into making the project happen," Megan Vukasich, director for the Department of Metropolitan Development, told the council during debate. "Because they are doing that private development, there is no tax dollars going to be repaying that back."

The measure matters because the city owns the Old City Hall site and has been paying ongoing maintenance costs, supporters said. Vukasich told the council the financing structure is possible because the developer is committing private capital, the city will retain ownership until the loan is repaid, and the project includes affordability and public-art components.

Opponents and skeptics cited developer political giving during the debate. "I still find it really objectionable that TWG, who gave last year $10,000 to Mayor Hogsett and over $70,000 to Mike Braun, is saying that they can't afford to finance their own projects," Councilor Brown said. "When you can donate $80,000 to politicians, I don't think you need it, so I'll be voting no."

Supporters pushed back that the financing uses revenue bonds and the developer will repay the city. Councilors also highlighted project benefits: reusing a vacant building, converting surface parking to active uses, including affordable housing at a 30% AMI target and public art that will be accessible to the public.

Megan Vukasich said the proposal came out of a 2022 request-for-proposals process and that the city will own the property until the bond is paid off; at that time the city will deed the property to the developer. She described project vetting and said the public-art element and affordable units were factors in the city's decision to offer the bond tool.

The council vote was 24 in favor, 1 opposed. The motion carried without further amendment.

The council did not specify an exact dollar amount for the bonds at the meeting; proponents described the financing as taxable lease-rental revenue bonds that will be repaid from project revenues and structured so they do not rely on the city's general tax revenues.

Background: The proposal was reported out of the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee with a due-pass recommendation and a committee vote of 10 to 0 before the full council vote.