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Urban Land Institute Examines Speedway
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Mike Maxwell
Photo by Linda Karn |
(posted May 14)
Highest and best use of land was not the utmost crucial area of concern
for the master developers Mansur Real Estate Services and Greenstreet Ltd.
According to Jeff Kingsbury of Greenstreet, the ULI panelists came to Speedway
to examine another issue; making the town a unique destination place for
entertainment, dining and retail.
"It's creating a mindful experience for people so they want to stay hours or days."
Other concerns were public-private financing and sustainability. Kingsbury said the six panelists had conversations with Kevin Taylor of the Indianapolis Bond Bank, Attorney Kim Blanchet of Barnes and Thornburg and Tom Guevara of Crowe Chizek dealing with financing issues. They also had conversations with key corporations in town as well as local small business owners Liz Glover, Susan Luebbert, Chris Hill and Jo Ellen Dotlich. Also at the discussion table were representatives from the motor sports industry and Indy Partnerships.
With increasing energy costs, energy sustainability becomes an additional
crucial component in the redevelopment, especially with the proposed central
utilities complex that will be owned and operated by Speedway Utilities
Management to serve Allison Transmission's energy and waste water treatment
needs. Today's energy solutions will have an impact for the next
ten to 15 years. The panelists also had conversations with IPL.
Kingsbury said he too is a member of the ULI and serves on the sustainability
committee. Kingsbury said he has lived in various parts of the country
but has returned home to Indiana to raise his family. He said one of the
first things he observed about Speedway is its stable community and good
school systems where students can still walk to school.
Kingsbury said the panelists toured more than just the Speed Zone the master
developers are responsible for, they toured redevelopment area two and
some of the neighborhoods.
Mike Maxwell, panelist chair, said the ULI is here to assist with the town
framing its own vision by bringing people together in the community to
start a dialog. Within 24 hours of being in Speedway, Maxwell observed
that Speedway is a solid community with the opportunity to leverage the
brand name of 500. "The 500 brand is better than Levi. Everybody knows
the 500." He said the ULI panelists are here to assist with leveraging
that brand name and to build on what is here. He said that Speedway has
a lot of famous industries, Allison Transmission and Praxair Surface Technologies.
He shared a vision of Allison Transmission building an interactive museum
to showcase its technology.
(Allison's Powerama, opened in 1954, displayed many of the technologies the company produced.
The exhibit was closed in mid 90s to allow for a cafeteria expansion.) The
west side of town has a rich automotive history.
He said that Indianapolis at one time had more car manufacturers than Detroit. He said this is the "world center of speed." He called the area an automotive idea factory where testing and performance are still occurring.
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