Council panel OKs bond proposal to upgrade far south side apartments

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis City-County Council committee on Monday advanced a plan to back $19 million in bonds to upgrade an apartment complex on the city’s far south side.

Regency Park Apartments is located southeast of South Meridian Street and East Epler Avenue. Plans call for 304 apartments to be rebuilt for moderate- to low-income residents. The apartments are currently sold based on market rates, and project developers said about 80 percent of the people living there have incomes that would qualify for the income-restricted units. 

Improvements would include new roofs, new sidewalks, more handicapped accessibility, and upgraded kitchens. 

The project would involve a $37 million investment by the businesses involved. The resolution would allow the state to issue tax-exempt bonds through the Indiana Housing Authority, which regulates income-restricted residences. The businesses would repay the $19 million in bonds. 

Without the bonds, it would be unlikely that the apartments would ever be upgraded, several members of the City-County Council’s economic development committee said Monday. All but three of the committee members on Monday approved advancing the resolution. The measure now goes for a vote before the full City-County Council. 

The measure was introduced by Scott Kreider, who resigned Friday from the council. Kreider said in an email that 30 of the apartments would be reserved for veterans while 30 others would be reserved for single, abused mothers recovering from substance abuse. 

Because of Kreider’s resignation, new sponsors joined the measure Monday so it could advance. They were Democrats Maggie Lewis and Jared Evans and and Republican Colleen Fanning.