Mass Ave's Barton Tower getting major addition

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Right now, all that sits in the 500 block of Mass Ave is a big concrete apartment building. But not for long.

Don Elliott’s frame shop and art gallery sits just feet from the current Barton Tower on Mass Ave. So when he found out a new retail and living development was being added to the property, he didn't shy away from saying what many were thinking.

"I think anything would be an improvement to a cement block. I mean, honestly," said Elliott.

Millikan on Mass is a multi-million dollar building that will wrap around the current tower. Included in the addition are 129 new apartments - a mixture of market rate and low-income - and more than 15,000 square feet of retail space.

Just across the 500 block of Mass Ave sits a fire station that's also in line for a major retail and living overhaul. Organizers hope the projects combined bring new life to the section of Mass Ave.

Bruce Baird, President of Insight Development Corporation, the developer for the Indianapolis Housing Agency, says opinions have been mixed. Some don't like the design but other nearby merchants have another concern. 

"My biggest concern isn't really about who the people are but more along the lines of the parking for the other people who are coming in for the retail," said Joseph Kielur, Doctor at Mass Ave Chiropractic.

Baird says they're working on a larger, comprehensive parking plan but nothing definite as of now.

Regardless of a solution, some see just the need for parking as a good thing; a sign the city is thriving.

"This is developed, the fire station gets relocated and that will be filled in, and then the Coke plant, using that art deco, keeping that facade and then turning that into something spectacular. It's going to be amazing to see what happens in the next 10 years down here," said Cassie Stockamp, President of the Athenaeum Foundation.

This is the first of two phases. This phase has a price tag of $12 million and is paid for with a federal tax credit program. It is slated for completion December 2013.

Phase two will cost about same, but that will be up to private investors.