The sight of vacant city-owned land next to the downtown transit center is the kind of thing that makes some residents hopeful for what’s to come.
Maybe apartments — something to increase density and make progress on the housing shortage.
Or retail to encourage more foot traffic around the city’s public transportation hub.
Both ideas would line up with Mayor Joe Hogsett’s yearslong downtown resiliency strategy to prioritize investments in housing, public spaces and economic development.
But for one of the few pieces of downtown real estate under Hogsett’s control, the mayor is going in a different direction.
He’s not even leaving the possibilities up for debate.
Instead, Hogsett is allowing Pacers Sports & Entertainment to build a $78 million practice facility for the Indiana Fever. The announcement was made Jan. 16 with no opportunity for public input.
Construction is expected to begin once demolition of the former Marion County Jail — commonly called Jail I — is complete.
The announcement drew plenty of praise on social media, especially from those who are excited about the future of the Fever, WNBA and women’s sports in general.
Many, though, see a missed opportunity for development on what city officials have for years been calling a key piece of land downtown.
“I’m used to our government not doing what they need to be doing for the majority of the people,” said Serina Hayes, a 51-year-old eastside resident.
It’s not difficult to see Indianapolis has a housing crisis, Hayes said. And part of what’s fueling the widespread problem is a shortage of affordable options for renters and homebuyers.
But Hayes doesn’t want her criticism to give off the impression that she doesn’t support the Indiana Fever.
Rather, she said the practice facility is another example of regular people taking a backseat to business interests.
“It always comes down to money,” Hayes said, “but they never think about the people who are grinding and working every day.”
And it isn’t just about land use. Some are criticizing what they see as a lack of transparency.
No bids for the land
Nick Robertson, 42, assumed there would be a bidding process for the site.
That’s how the city spurred redevelopment with other downtown sites, including the former Marion County Jail II site and projects along East Market Street.
But rather than publicly asking developers to submit proposals, the Hogsett administration has already made a decision.
The city will transfer the land to the Capital Improvement Board, a municipal corporation, similar to the properties where the Indiana Pacers’ and Indianapolis Colts’ practice facilities are located.
The CIB will have an operating agreement with a Pacers Sports & Entertainment affiliate that will handle construction of the 108,000-square-foot facility, according to the company’s announcement.
Robertson, an architect who takes a bus to the transit center to get to work, wanted the Jail I site to become a mixed-use development with residential units stacked above a first floor that contains commercial or retail space.
Mainly, though, he wanted more transparency.
“It’s really more about what the city has sort of promised to do,” Robertson said, “and their approach to dealing with these important parcels of land that they own.”
It isn’t clear why the Jail I site didn’t get the same treatment as, say, the nearby Jail II site.
Hogsett, through a spokesperson, declined an interview request. He didn’t answer emailed questions about why the Jail I site didn’t go through an open bidding process or how the practice facility fits with his downtown resiliency strategy.
In a statement, Hogsett called the practice facility a “commitment to equitable investment in women’s sports.”
City-County Councilor Kristin Jones, a Democrat whose downtown district includes the practice facility site, said she doesn’t see a problem with Hogsett’s decision.
“I was never under the impression that there would be a bidding process,” she said.
Last summer, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that a city official said requests for proposals from developers would go out in 2025.
Department of Metropolitan Development Director Megan Vukusich said at a press conference in December that it was too early to say when the city might request proposals. Vukusich said property evaluations — including market research — would determine redevelopment possibilities.
“This is a priority property,” she said at the time, “just due to its proximity to the transit station and its location downtown.”
Future development on the site has been on the city’s radar for years. In 2017, the city entered a six-year contract with a development firm for $35,000 a month to study redevelopment possibilities on city-owned property.
That included the Jail I site.
Hogsett did not respond to emailed questions about what the recommendations were and if they factored into his support for the Fever facility.
Vukusich declined a Mirror Indy interview request.
Councilor: Simon family spent big on Hogsett and ‘stands to benefit’
For some, Hogsett’s decision to let Pacers Sports & Entertainment build on the Jail I site looks like the mayor rewarding a wealthy family for campaign support.
City-County Councilor Jesse Brown, a Democrat who represents an eastside district, noted in a recent newsletter to constituents that Hogsett received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions last year from the Simon family — which owns Pacers Sports & Entertainment.
The family “stands to benefit from many of the recent development decisions the city has made,” Brown wrote.
A Mirror Indy analysis of Hogsett’s 2024 campaign finance report found that majority owner Herb Simon and his daughter, Rachel Simon, gave his campaign $80,000 last year. And Steven Rales, a minority owner of the Indiana Pacers, contributed $51,000.
That’s despite Hogsett not being up for reelection in 2024 and his commitment that this term as mayor will be his last.
Hogsett did not respond to emailed questions about criticism of the campaign contributions — which amounted to more than 15% of the nearly $800,000 from individuals, political action committees and other groups in 2024. If Hogsett doesn’t run for office again, he can spend that money on other candidates and political action committees.
A city spokesperson called the suggestion that campaign contributions influenced development decisions “absurd.”
“This has everything to do with the growth of the Indiana Fever and the WNBA and putting Indianapolis at the forefront of that league,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
In response to questions from Mirror Indy, Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Mel Raines released a statement that didn’t specifically address the criticism of the campaign contributions but said the public-private partnership will “deliver significant wins for our community.”
“As he has for decades, Herb Simon and the Simon family will continue to work with elected officials who are committed to strengthening our city and state,” Raines said in the statement.
Editor’s note: Mirror Indy is part of the nonprofit Free Press Indiana, which has received financial support from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation and sponsorship from Pacers Sports and Entertainment. Mirror Indy’s editorial policy, which is posted online, notes that our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
How the practice facility fits downtown’s sports strategy
A practice facility dedicated to the Fever would give players the same thing the Pacers have had since 2017, when the Ascension St. Vincent Center was built.
Currently, the Fever have their practice and training facilities in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The new three-story facility is expected to include two basketball courts, strength and conditioning equipment, a full-service kitchen, hydrotherapy pools, child care space and a content production studio.
In the announcement for the facility, Raines said the space would host fan experiences and a Fever team store.
“With the goal of Indianapolis becoming the epicenter of women’s sports, this world-class sports performance center will be the preeminent place for players to train, recover and push their boundaries,” Raines said.
The facility would also be a hub for the team’s community outreach and engagement efforts — something Councilor Jones said people in her district would especially benefit from.
“I think that’s an opportunity that can be very exciting for right there in downtown,” she said.
The practice facility also would be a 5-minute walk from the Major League Soccer stadium Hogsett wants to build near the downtown heliport.
The practice facility would sit on a parcel of land included in a new downtown taxing district that would help pay for the stadium — which Hogsett has said would only be built if Indianapolis lands an MLS team. The taxing district still needs state approval.
But all of that would come at a cost.
By leaning more heavily into sports development, Indianapolis residents would miss out on other possibilities at the site.
City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen, a Democrat who represents an eastside district, said proximity to the transit center gave the city a chance to create more development that would benefit the public.
Nielsen has spent years advocating for solutions to the city’s housing and homelessness issues.
“I’m always gonna be a little disappointed when we’re not doing density and putting in housing,” he told Mirror Indy.
A correction was made on Jan. 27, 2024: A previous version of this article misstated Nick Robertson’s profession.
Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins contributed reporting.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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