Culture
The culture of Indianapolis sports, nightlife, art and music is a huge factor driving the demand for housing. People want to live downtown because its fun, convenient and some how, still remains affordable. Most of the interesting things to do in this great American city are just a bike ride away when you are downtown. If you do find yourself downtown with out a bike, don’t worry, you can just use the bike share program or hire a pedi-cab driver to give you a ride. There’s multiple concert venues, breweries, a world class zoo, museums, sports stadiums, conventions and much, much more. Indy’s downtown has something to do for everyone.
Economy
All the sports stadiums, bars, concerts and museums need employees. That translates into a lot of jobs and even better, careers. Health care and insurance for example are also a huge part of Indianapolis’ economy. Over all, downtown Indy is an economic engine for the entire state of Indiana. Eli Lilly for example has over 14,000 employees spread over multiple campuses downtown. IU, Purdue and IUPUI have over combined 20,000 employees. Other major employers are Well Point, Angies list, Marsh Supermarkets, Simon property group, conseco, steak and shake headquarters, Ice miller law firm and several hotel chains. This article in livabilty.com ranks Indianapolis’ downtown as number 3 in the US! They note that the population is on pace to double by the year 2020. The list of reasons why people love downtown Indy goes on and on.
3 Critical Online Articles to Read
1. Indianapolis has been voted the 3rd best place to invest in real estate by the Wall Street Journal
2. CNN Money: Most affordable US cities to buy a home. 2012. Indy ranks #1
Median home price: $102,000
Median Income: $66,900
Affordability Score: 95.7%
3. 2012 Downtown Indianapolis economic indicators Published by Indianapolis Downtown INC.
Big Players Want in on Investing in Indy
Developer plans $9.1 million Project on Fountain Square Parking lot “Fountain Square needs housing for the folks who work in the restaurants and the service industry that’s there now,”
Salesforce wants to add tower to downtown Indy skyline “At the time, ExactTarget employed about 1,000 people downtown spread across 215,000 square feet in three locations: the Guaranty Building on Monument Circle, the Century Building at Pennsylvania and Maryland streets, and the Gibson Building at Michigan Street and Capitol Avenue.”
Pennsylvania Based firm HFF Secures Financing for $9.85 Million Apartment Conversion Downtown Indy “The historic art deco building dates back to 1913. It originally consisted of office space which served many of the city’s architects and builders.”
