There’s an empty plot of land less than half a mile from Sue Lindsey’s home in the eastside Oxford neighborhood. The lot is overgrown with grass and other vegetation. Trash is scattered all over.
But Lindsey sees a sign of good things to come for her community on that 1.6 acres of land near the corner of North Keystone Avenue and East 38th Street.
A developer wants to build a mixed-use apartment complex there.
The five-story building would include 95 units ranging from one to three bedrooms. About a third of the units would be reserved for veterans experiencing homelessness.
Plans also call for 3,700 square feet of retail space, along with a community garden, fitness area, play room for kids and rooftop deck.
Lindsey, 84, wasn’t supportive of the project right away. This is her neighborhood. She’s lived here for more than 60 years and didn’t want to back the project without carefully considering how it would affect her neighbors.
Eventually, though, Lindsey came around on the plan.
“I will support it because I love my community,” Lindsey said from her dining room table. “I want it to be growing as the other community places are growing.”
The project isn’t a done deal yet, though.
The developer, Avon-based Fortified Group, is still working through the rezoning process.
And owner Dale Pruitt said he plans to ask the city for incentives to pay for the $22 million project.
Department of Metropolitan Development spokesperson Lucas Gonzalez said conversations with the developer are ongoing but there hasn’t been a formal proposal for incentives.
Not everyone in the community supports the project.
But even as their feelings about the planned apartments vary, residents appear to agree on a couple of things at least: They would want their new neighbors to respect the neighborhood, and they don’t want to see yet another absentee landlord.
“It’s who comes in and runs the apartment,” said Vickie Driver, who’s president of the Oxford Neighborhood Association, “that determines if it will be successful or if it won’t.”
The community already has too many out-of-town landlords who don’t care about the properties they own, Driver said.
Pruitt told Mirror Indy his company would maintain ownership rather than selling the building. And Pruitt said Fishers-based Absolute Real Estate Services would be the property manager.
What added density would mean for residents
Michael Powell doesn’t care much one way or the other about a new apartment complex in his neighborhood.
Powell, 44, has lived in the area for most of his life. His main concern is the future residents: “Are they good people?”
And Powell isn’t only thinking of how those new neighbors might fit in. He would also worry about families navigating the area by foot — whether they’re going to the Dollar General across the street or Popeyes on the other side of 38th Street.
The intersection is busy, and traffic can get chaotic. IndyGo’s Purple Line came with improved sidewalks and crosswalks, but there are still multiple traffic lanes going each way.
As Powell spoke on a February afternoon, children and teenagers who were getting out of school crossed one half of Keystone Avenue, waited for the traffic to clear and then walked across the other half of the street.
More residents means more cars, Powell said. The complex would include a 72-vehicle parking garage on the ground floor. And he doesn’t want traffic to get even worse.
“I think it’s kind of dumb to put apartments right there,” Powell said.
But the location is exactly where some say Indianapolis needs more housing.
Proximity to the bus line could give future residents access to an efficient form of transportation, taking them to jobs, school or the doctor at the Eskenazi Health campus on East 38th Street.
Greg Garrett, interim director of the United Northeast Community Development Corp., said the Purple Line would be a bonus for the project.
“It'll give people an opportunity to have a place to live and live comfortably,” he said, “and get to a lot of the places they need to get to.”
Plus, Garrett said, an apartment complex beats a lot of the alternatives.
“I’d rather see housing go in than a gas station,” he said.
Garrett said he’s picked up more support than opposition when hearing feedback from residents, and he commended the developer for getting community feedback.
A block away from the proposed development, though, Brooke Aaron stood on the steps in front of her front door and wondered how the apartments — and its residents — might affect her neighborhood.
Would her neighbors accept these new residents? How would the development affect her property taxes?
Aaron, 41, decided the project wouldn’t benefit her or her community.
“You could’ve built something for the neighborhood right there,” she said, “not apartments.”
But she does like the idea of reserving some of the apartment units for homeless veterans.
“That,” Aaron said, “I can respect.”
For Lindsey, the longtime resident who initially didn’t support the project, it isn’t just a matter of personal preference.
Lindsey has pride for her community and loves her neighbors, cooking meals for them and taking them to the grocery store. She’s a retired barber of almost 55 years. A sign for Sue’s Barber Shop still hangs in her window.
So the possibility of getting extra amenities for her neighbors to go along with the added housing is especially exciting for Lindsey.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be for me,” she said of the retail portion. “But it would be nice to have a nice boutique, a nice place to go drink coffee or a nice place to sit down when you don’t have internet. That’s what attracted me.”
What’s next?
The rezoning petition still needs approval from the Metropolitan Development Commission.
The case is expected to be on the commission’s agenda for March 19.
Next would be construction permitting and financing.
There isn’t yet a timeline for the project.
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 and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
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