Julie Billings has lived in the Fletcher Place neighborhood for 25 years, right next to Fountain Square.
Her house on Lord Street, with a light red staircase, overlooks a well-manicured green space that could soon be paved if a proposal to build townhomes is approved in the historic neighborhood.
“If I would have known that this was about to happen, I would have never invested — never,” Billings said. “And I bet you, if you ask every homeowner on the street, they would say the same thing.”
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, located next to Fletcher Place, wants to build 58 rental townhomes along 501 E. Louisiana St. The company has owned the vacant 3-acre site since the late 1980s and now wants to partner with Buckingham Companies for the development.
In a statement to Mirror Indy, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance said the project “aligns with our commitment to thoughtful community investment.” Buckingham Properties didn’t respond to Mirror Indy’s request for comment.
The proposal shows 10 townhome buildings, each containing from three to seven units. The facilities will include cedar shake siding, two-car parking garages and a small dog park.
“The proposed build-to-rent townhome project will help fill a current gap in the downtown Indianapolis housing market for individuals who are seeking to move beyond apartment-style living while not yet ready to fully commit to homeownership,” Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance wrote in a statement. “Buckingham Companies’ expertise in rental property management makes them the ideal partner to ensure the quality and long-term maintenance of the development.”
But the plan has garnered much scrutiny and some opposition from at least 80 neighbors and businesses, many who had concerns related to traffic, noise from renters, environmental hazards from prior use and modern “cookie-cutter” architecture.
“We don’t have more power to say, as a community, that it should remain green space because it is privately owned, and we understand that,” said Aiden Rice, a fellow Lord Street resident leading the charge. “But I would like to come up with a situation that is not development, but still provides incentive to Farm Bureau and recognizes that they’re doing a service to the community to leave it as green space.”
Turning the area into a public park could be a challenge.
‘An opportunity to relieve some of the housing needs’
The property is currently zoned for a mix of industrial and high-intensity commercial facilities. That’s one reason some residents have been grateful Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance proposed townhomes and not a different type of development.
Some members of the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission also expressed similar sentiments during a preliminary discussion of the proposal in May. But at least two commissioners said the plan isn’t up to par with the historic neighborhood’s standards.
William Browne, Jr., president of the preservation commission, said the plan needs “a little bit more imagination,” commenting on the lack of architectural diversity among the townhomes. Additionally, while saying townhouses would be an appropriate use, he and preservation commission secretary Susan Williams agreed adding a small park would provide more green space.
“I think the idea of a pocket park makes all sorts of sense because this has obviously been a green space for quite a long time,” Browne said. “And giving something back to the neighborhood, I think, is going to be important because getting support from the neighborhood is going to be valuable for your development.”
Some residents already support the development.
Jake Rupp’s business, Flower Boys, has been in Fletcher Place for six years. He loved the neighborhood so much that he became a resident about three years ago and wants to see the area grow.
“We have an opportunity to relieve some of the housing needs in the city here by actually converting something that, again, isn’t necessarily being utilized very often into the potential for more housing,” he said.
Rupp acknowledged the trade-offs for the development, such as more people and traffic. He prefers the townhome project to other types of developments, and believes the companies took a tasteful approach to the exterior aesthetic of the buildings because they don’t look ultra modern with flat roofs and metal paneling.
Despite these opinions, Rupp recognizes he won’t be impacted as much as other residents since he lives south of Fletcher Avenue, on the other side of the neighborhood. He understands the concerns of his neighbors closer to the site, but thinks he would still support the project if he lived closer to it.
If it happens here, could it happen elsewhere?
Fletcher Place is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It’s named after Calvin Fletcher, who is said to be the first lawyer in Indianapolis. He owned a 269-acre farm that gradually gave way to large houses along Fletcher Avenue by the 1860s.
Residents eventually sought to protect the neighborhood from future developments by creating the Fletcher Place Historical Area Preservation Plan in 1980 to “encourage removal of incompatible land and building uses that damage the integrity of the Fletcher Place neighborhood.”
On average, new construction in the neighborhood should have 20-26 units per gross acre, according to the plan. During the May preservation commission hearing, a representative for the project said the proposed project’s density is “just over 18 units per acre.”
Still, many residents aren’t impressed. Deb Tate pointed to a section of the preservation plan that says new construction should “respect significant landscape features on the site.” To her, that means keeping many, if not all, of the trees and building around them instead.
Tate also fears if the preservation commission is willing to disregard Fletcher Place’s historical plan for this project, that could set a dangerous precedent.
“We understand as neighbors that this document is only as strong as the people responsible for enforcing it, and that would be IHPC,” Tate said. “So, my goal is not to let the financial interests of two big companies override this document.”
Next steps
Many Fletcher Place residents think they have a strong case.
Over the past few years, Buckingham Companies has walked away from proposed developments in Broad Ripple and along Indiana Avenue after receiving significant community pushback.
Residents hope they can collect enough support to have the same outcome as other neighborhoods. People interested in signing a petition can contact the Fletcher Place neighborhood group at savelordstreetgreen@gmail.com.
The Fletcher Place Neighborhood Association plans to vote June 9 on whether the group will submit a letter of opposition to the city’s preservation commission.
The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission is expected to review the proposal again on July 1. If approved by the commission, developers would still go through the city’s zoning commission and City-County Council for final approval to the zoning changes.
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Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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