Grow Mass Ave

FOX59: "Downtown landscape to change now that TIF district approved"

“”It’s just a huge, underdeveloped hole right in the middle of the district,” said Micah Frank, co-owner of The Black Market restaurant on Mass Ave.

“According to the mayor’s office, the newly approved TIF district along Mass Ave. will allow construction to move forward because it provides a funding source for relocating the fire station.

“The approval of another TIF district northwest of downtown also opens the door for an elaborate redevelopment plan to add a technology corridor along 16th Street and Indiana Avenue. That project has been stalled for more than a year because the city needed the TIF district to finance road improvements to accommodate several additional residential and retail spaces.”

Please call 317-327-4241 and thank the City-County Council for supporting the Mass Ave TIF District, which will create jobs, improve public safety and attract more people to the area.

The Council voted 25-2 tonight to approve the Downtown TIF expansion, which will benefit both Mass Ave and the Near-Northwestside area that includes 16 Tech and Riverside.

Special thanks to Councilors Joe Simpson and Vop Osili for listening to neighborhood leaders, business owners and residents and for working hard to facilitate bipartisan cooperation on this important economic development issue.

Indy Star: "No more delays for development"

“Unfortunately, Mayor Greg Ballard’s efforts to expand the Downtown TIF district to include sections of Massachusetts and Indiana avenues has been delayed by protracted discussions that have developers and neighborhoods in limbo.

“TIFs lock in property tax levels for a period and retain some of the revenue within the target area. Used well, they replenish blighted and stagnant areas. Critics say they deprive schools and libraries of needed funds — and that, in Indy’s case, they have been pushed through without enough public input or cost-benefit analysis.

“The latter complaints also have a partisan tinge and are moot when it comes to Proposal 15. Many months of deliberations have accrued, and the projects pass muster.

“Mass Ave. involves replacing a fire station, which doesn’t pay taxes, with private enterprise. The 16-Tech venture would make Indiana Avenue a life-sciences corridor, harboring one of the city’s most promising industries.”

NY Times: "Eli Lilly Trades Parking Lot for a Downtown Feel"

“The result of these and other projects is a city that has gradually developed a regional brand as a livelier place to live and do business, in a state that is doing better economically than most. In June, Indiana generated 10,700 new jobs, more than all but three other states, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indianapolis’s unemployment rate is 7.5 percent, below the state and national jobless rates.”

Projects like the one planned for Mass Ave and in other parts of our city will keep our national reputation on the uptick. Indy is a great place to live!

Indy Star: "Council panel OKs disputed Downtown economic development plan"

“But the ice thawed Monday after the administration reached an agreement with Democratic council members Vop Osili and Joseph Simpson. They represent districts near those proposed new development zones.

“In a newly released memo outlining the agreement, Deron Kintner, Ballard’s new deputy mayor for economic development, commits to tapping $13.5 million from city economic development funds for three loan and workforce training programs.”

Gorgeous morning on #MassAve in #Indy!

indypolitics:

The Indianapolis Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee voted 5-1 Monday night to move forward with two stalled Tax Increment Finance Districts. 

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emurray:

Boy never met a bowl of froyo he didn’t like. (Taken with Instagram)

Thank you, Chatterbox, for your support! #MassAve #Indy #jobs

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