INDIANAPOLIS — Hendricks Commercial Properties won the Indiana Landmarks’ 2023 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration for its transformation of the former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant into the centerpiece of the Bottleworks District, a $300 million, 12-acre culinary, arts and entertainment hub in downtown Indianapolis.
Jim and Lee Yuncker opened Indianapolis’s Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in 1931 on a site where they had been bottling ginger ale and other soft drinks since the early 1900s.
When the Yunckers began bottling Coca-Cola, they hired Indianapolis architectural firm Rubush & Hunter to design their new plant. The result was an Art Deco showpiece, with a white terra cotta façade, bronze storefronts, terrazzo flooring, colorful tile walls and the brand’s iconic script logo in gold-leaf lettering.
Additions in the 1940s and ’50s further expanded the production facility before bottling operations moved out in the ’60s.
Indianapolis Public Schools bought the property in 1968 and used it as a support building for buses and storage.
In 2016, Hendricks Commercial Properties’ proposal to redevelop the site as a multi-use complex won approval by the City of Indianapolis.
“Everyone working on it had a sense of pride in what they were doing and understood these buildings’ importance to the community,” said Gavin Thomas, Hendricks’ vice president of development. “We were very much interested in doing the right thing and setting the bar high, which was a big driver of the results.”
Despite opening during a pandemic, the Bottleworks Hotel and district has thrived, attracting visitors from around the world.
Development continues on the remainder of the site, with plans for additional parking, retail, offices and housing to hopefully reconnect the site to the surrounding vibrant historic neighborhoods.
“Hendricks’ adaptation of the former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant is a transformative project that exemplifies superior preservation practice and economic revitalization,” said Marsh Davis, president of Indiana Landmarks.
Project architect RATIO worked to respect the building's historic character while developing the 139-room boutique hotel.
“It was about really trying to understand the building and working with it instead of against it,” said David Kroll, RATIO’s principal and director of preservation.
Each year, Indiana Landmarks awards the Cook Cup to the property owner who follows the highest standards of restoration in transforming a significant historic building, with positive impact on the neighborhood or community.
