Indianapolis breaks ground on Cole Motor redevelopment, pledges housing and downtown retail

Indianapolis leaders and private developers held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the redevelopment of the former Cole Motor Car Company and Marion County Jail 2 site on Oct. 27, 2025, announcing plans for housing, retail and infrastructure improvements in the Near East Side of downtown.

Mayor Joe Hogsett said the project will “elevate the urban core of Indianapolis to new heights” and tied the redevelopment to the city’s downtown resiliency strategy. “These buildings will soon be transformed into shining centers of downtown living,” Hogsett said.

The project will convert historic industrial buildings along Market Street into a mixed-use development that organizers said includes roughly 213 residential units and ground-floor commercial space intended to support new retail and jobs. City and project speakers said some units will be designated affordable, though the ceremony did not specify how many.

“By revitalizing this historic site into a thriving mixed-use development, we're not only preserving our city's rich heritage, but we're also creating new spaces and new opportunities for our residents and businesses,” said District 18 City-County Councilor Kristin Jones, who welcomed the project as a boost to the Near East Side and cited letters of support from neighborhood associations and elected officials.

Megan Boucasse, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development, said the city’s acquisition of the property made the project likely to include prioritized community benefits and careful planning. She thanked city staff, 18 20 Ventures and neighborhood partners and said the redevelopment will generate new tax revenue, upgrade infrastructure, add amenities along public bus lines and “incorporate the property's history into the design to preserve the neighborhood’s character.”

Jeremy Stevenson, representing developer 18 20 Ventures, placed the project in a longer downtown strategy that includes the Market East district and Elevator Hill. Stevenson noted the buildings’ layered history — including both productive industrial use and later institutional use — and praised private-public collaboration and the project’s design and construction teams.

Project partners named during the ceremony included 18 20 Ventures (developer), Catalyst Opportunity Funds (equity partner), First Internet Bank (lender), the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), T and H Construction (general contractor) and legal and design firms (Ice Miller; DKGR; Meticulous Design and Architecture; KBSO; JPS; Guidon; Anderson Bolander; Inclusive Strategies). Neighborhood partners cited included the Cole-Noble and Holy Cross neighborhood associations.

Speakers gave an updated construction timeline: organizers said they had obtained building permits the week of the ceremony and expected new exterior openings and window work this summer, first residents to move in around mid-2026, and project completion in early 2027. The project team said retail spaces will fill Market Street ground floors as the development progresses.

No formal votes or council actions were recorded during the ceremony. Speakers described prior legislative approvals that enabled the project but did not read or cite specific ordinances during the event.

The ceremonial remarks emphasized preservation of the site’s industrial history alongside economic development. “This project is not just about bricks and mortar, it's about believing what could be,” Stevenson said. Mayor Hogsett and other speakers repeatedly framed the redevelopment as part of a broader downtown resilience plan and a step toward connecting Monument Circle with the Holy Cross neighborhood.

Organizers invited representatives from Catalyst Opportunity Funds and First Internet Bank for a ceremonial groundbreaking and said media could tour designated areas afterward, with safety restrictions for non-designated zones. No specific subsidy amounts, loan terms or detailed affordable-housing counts were disclosed at the ceremony.

The city and developer provided contact points for later inquiries and said follow-up materials about the project’s design, financing and affordable-housing breakdown would be released as construction advances.