Historic preservation commission continues Bottle Works amendment after traffic, parking and design concerns
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Summary
The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission voted to continue consideration of the Bottle Works Building 2 amendment to its Sept. 3 meeting after commissioners, staff and neighborhood speakers raised unresolved questions about a proposed one‑way garage exit, garage screening and an unfinished Carrollton parking lot.
The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission voted to continue its review of the Bottle Works Building 2 amendment to its Sept. 3 meeting after months of design changes and detailed questions about the proposed garage and neighborhood impacts.
Architect Shane Grambois of Epstein (presenting the phase‑3 package) described the plan for an office tower with a public parking garage, a plaza and a pocket park on the north edge of the site. The project team said the revised design lowers the tower element and relocates the garage curb cut to East Tenth Street to reduce headlight glare toward nearby residences; they cite an existing 2017–18 traffic study for the master plan and said the new building would provide roughly 300–320 public parking spaces.
Neighborhood owner and business operator Larry Jones told the commission he opposes an exit onto East Tenth, arguing one‑way circulation plus U‑turns would create safety issues for pedestrians, cyclists and unfamiliar visitors at a busy intersection near the Cultural Trail. “People will do U‑turns there,” Jones said, and urged that completion of an existing Carrollton parking lot commit to paving, landscaping and finishing before this phase proceeds.
Staff and DPW representatives signaled similar concerns. Emily Jarzin, principal architectural reviewer, confirmed the temporary lot has an earlier commitment to be paved and landscaped by Dec. 31, 2026, but said the lot is a separate COA and that DPW has “very serious concerns” about the proposed curb cut and one‑way circulation. Aaron Hart, the project’s civil engineer, said the Tenth Street curb cut offers more stacking distance and fewer left‑turn conflicts than the Bellefontaine alternative but agreed to return with additional circulation analysis.
Commissioners asked for material sections showing the garage screening and the concrete bumper wall behind any mesh or louver system, examples of the mesh treatment used elsewhere in Indianapolis, additional drawings of the garage’s relationship to adjacent historic buildings, and a traffic re‑check or study incorporating DPW comments. They also pressed the team for clarity on whether tax‑credit review with the State Historic Preservation Office would adequately protect interior spaces and whether alternative garage orientations or partial underground parking had been fully explored.
Citing the unresolved technical and public‑safety questions, the commission moved and unanimously voted to continue the amendment to the September 3 IHPC meeting so staff, DPW and the applicant can supply requested details.
The continuance means the commission did not take a final vote on the COA amendment; the applicant plans to return with additional engineering, material sections and documentation of parking‑lot commitments.
