IRVINGTON — The Irvington Development Organization (IDO) recently announced that it has secured a $500,000 grant from the City of Indianapolis to jump-start an eclectic retail development south of Washington Street that will be known as the Coal Factory.
The Coal Factory encompasses 50,000 square-feet of property bounded by Bonna Ave. to the north and Ritter Ave. to the west. The new development will be anchored by Black Acre Brewing Company’s new brewing facility, and will include a mix of restaurants, retail, artisan food production, art and entertainment offerings, and shared office space.
The area is part of Irvington’s original downtown, where a rail depot at the northeast corner of Bonna Ave. and Audubon Rd. was the hub of a thriving commercial district. The Coal Factory was once Irvington’s actual coal yard, which was served by a rail spur that came off the main railroad line.
IDO applied for and secured the grant, which is from Community Development Block Grant funds. IDO is partnering with Irvington Brewing Real Estate, LLC to acquire and develop the site. Irvington Brewing Real Estate, LLC will serve as the owner and manager of the site and will be responsible for the build out and leasing of the property.
“In recent years, our neighborhood has launched several redevelopment projects, and the Coal Factory has the potential to transform the southern part of Irvington,” said Margaret Lawrence Banning, executive director of IDO. “We are grateful to the City for recognizing the assets in our historic neighborhood that will support this kind of development: our dense housing, our accessibility to downtown and our connectivity to our neighbors. But for also recognizing the need to jump start the development which we are confident will spur future investments in Irvington.”
The Pennsy Trail will front the Coal Factory on the north side of Bonna Ave. Slated for completion this fall, this one block stretch is the only area where the trail will front commercial development, as the remainder of the trail goes through back yards and behind buildings.
Elements of the Coal Factory will require approval from the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission, including zoning and exterior building improvements. The Commission will hear the project’s petition at its May 7 meeting. The Coal Factory construction is slated for completion by December 2014.
