INDIANAPOLIS — A century-old building on North Meridian Street that’s been at the center of a yearslong dispute could soon see a new owner.
On Wednesday, the city took initial steps in buying and preserving the Drake Apartments, which have sat vacant since 2016.
Currently, the building is owned by TRex Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
During the meeting, the Metropolitan Planning Commission gave the green light for the city to purchase the building.
“We’ve been in good conversation with representatives with the Children’s Museum relative to a purchase agreement and are working through those conversations and hope to have a resolution in the coming weeks to months,” said Rusty Carr, the deputy director of strategy and collaboration at the Department of Metropolitan Development.
The eight-story building sits on North Meridian Street near 30th Street and was built in the 1920s. Back then, it was considered a luxury, upscale apartment building.
Now, it sits in the middle of the Children's Museum’s campus. The museum first purchased the property in 2012 for $1.25 million. The building became vacant after the museum said there were too many repairs and couldn’t keep up.
In 2019, the museum wanted to demolish the building to make way for a temporary parking lot. A short time later, the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission voted to assign a historic designation to the apartment building. This halted any redevelopment or demolition.
The museum then pushed back against the designation and filed a lawsuit saying they did not receive proper notice.
The legal battle has gone back and forth, but now recent talks about a purchase agreement have given supporters new hope.
“Indiana Landmarks is really excited about this and is really thrilled that the city has taken a really proactive step,” said Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services for Indiana Landmarks. “It helps ensure the future of the building that it won’t be demolished but rather it will be redeveloped.”
For years, Dollase has worked with Indiana Landmarks to save the historic building, saying it has a lot of potential.
“They were really nice places in their day and let’s hope someday they can be again,” Dollase said.
The city would like to use the building for affordable housing, especially with it being located next to IndyGo’s Red Line.
“I’d be hard-pressed to find a better use for affordable housing at some level and rehabilitate a previously very beautiful apartment building,” Carr said.
A price and timeline have not been finalized.
“We are encouraged by our ongoing conversations with the city and this is a necessary step in continuing our forward progress in this area. There are still several steps left to complete, but again, we continue to be encouraged by the progress we are making together,” said Audra Blasdel, vice president of operations at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, in a statement.
As for the legal battle, neither party could comment on the pending litigation, but said it will likely be part of the conversation moving forward during the purchasing process.