INDIANAPOLIS — On Friday, Dec. 20, the board of the Indianapolis Airport Authority is set to consider selling the Downtown Heliport to the city of Indianapolis.
Mayor Joe Hogsett wants to buy the land, tear down the heliport, and build a Major League Soccer stadium. The FAA approved the closure of the heliport on Nov. 25.
The FAA laid out the following next steps:
- Removal of all airworthy aircraft
- Submit a form to the FAA
- Reappraise the heliport within six months of closure
- Perform a planning study on Air Mobility activities
- Remove all aviation markings and disconnect circuits
- Transfer aviation related equipment
IU Health is the only remaining tenant at the heliport. It plans to finish its new facility at the at Indianapolis Regional Airport in December 2025. According to board documents, IAA assumes IU Health would move to the new location soon after it is ready.
According to those same documents, the city will start budgeting requests based on a March 2024 appraisal that valued the heliport at about $9.5 million.
"The IAA expects the purchase of the Heliport will be executed in the first quarter of 2026 at a fair market price higher than the March 2024 appraisal," read a board memo written on Dec. 13 by IAA general counsel Jonathan Weinzapfel.
In a statement, a city representative said, "The City is following through with the Memorandum of Understanding we've had with the Indianapolis Airport Authority for several years."
Heliport at the center of MLS plans
In May, 13News obtained a letter sent to the City-County Council president from the Indianapolis Airport Authority confirming the authority was moving forward with closing the downtown heliport.
The process first started several years ago after the authority said the financial burden of continued operation outweighed the public value provided to the citizens of Indianapolis.
Currently, the heliport's only tenant is IU Health’s Lifeline.
But there is another catch.
The heliport is also where Mayor Joe Hogsett wants to build the city’s new soccer stadium. The stadium is part of the Mayor's plan to lure a Major League Soccer team to Indianapolis.
A special tax district to fund the construction of the stadium has been sent to the State Budget Committee.
At a June event, Hogsett made it clear he will not build a soccer complex without an MLS team.
"I want to make it clear to the people of Indianapolis, I am not Bill Hudnut and we're not going to build a football stadium without a team. We will build a soccer-specific stadium if and only if MLS wants to bring a club to Indianapolis," said Hogsett.
The mayor also said the state needs to approve the plan before the city will apply to the MLS for a club and franchise.
Soccer stadium faces opposition
Indy already had plans for a new professional soccer stadium before the mayor announced the Major League Soccer bid. The ElevenPark development along the White River was valued at around a billion dollars and would have included a tower with living and retail space, along with the stadium.
But that area used to be Greenlawn Cemetery, one of the first cemeteries in the city. As many as 650 remains could still be at the site, according to the city's estimates. Many of those remains could belong to Black Hoosiers, who were not relocated when the remains of white people were moved from Greenlawn after it was closed.
13News obtained a letter, offering to buy the site from Keystone Group, the developer. The developer rejected the Mayor's offer and denounced the "half-baked" MLS bid.
