Message to Fayette Street POA

Hello Neighbors, we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We as the board of our Property Owners' Association are writing to ask for your approval to submit public opposition to two development projects near Fayette Street.

At 719 Indiana Ave

The first project is on 719 Indiana Ave, just North of the Walker Theater. Perhaps the best way to summarize our stance is this slide from a recent community presentation:

The property in question was recently sold to local developers Buckingham Companies by the Madam Walker Legacy Center Board due to financial duress. The top image is Buckingham's development proposal. Some of us on the board have already submitted our stances as individuals against this project. Here is a more detailed list of our concerns:

• The development could significantly add to street congestion without expanding capacity of surrounding streets and other infrastructure.
• It does not have adequate parking to accommodate all residents and patrons of the Walker Theater. This could lead to further spillover of parking into local neighborhoods, where we already have many non-residents taking spots without permits and driving at dangerous speeds.
• It perpetuates existing trends of racial injustice leading to displacement of Black persons and their cultural legacy. For context, please read this recent Indy Star article. For a more specific critique from this lens, please read this statement from Reclaim Indiana Avenue.
• As Reclaim Indiana Ave notes, this is a missed opportunity to revive a cultural hub of Indianapolis that could have the civic impact of Mass Ave/Fountain Square and serve as an equitable amenity for everyone.

The bottom image reflects an alternative proposal made by a coalition of community members sponsored by Indiana Landmarks--many of whom were the same people who established our block as a historic conservation area. We feel it addresses our concerns above, while fostering entrepreneurial and housing opportunities for our area of the city.

At Walnut and Senate

The second project we oppose (in current form) is construction of warehouse space for ZESCO near their current retail space on Capitol Ave. ZESCO is being forced to build new space because their current space lies within the expansion zone of IU Health's downtown campus.

We support local businesses like ZESCO, but a couple factors lead to our opposition.

• The current plans have semi-trucks regularly loading directly adjacent to the Cultural Trail. In fact they will need to drive over the path itself while pulling in and out.
• The warehouse will be directly adjacent to the historic lodge of the Colored Knights of Pythias (labeled 701 Senate Ave in the schematic) and thus could also contribute to the erasure of Black culture in our area.

Similar to the first project proposal, we could support an alternative design if it addressed our concerns above.

What do you think?

Please follow this link to offer your vote on whether we should oppose each of these projects as a collective body.