No permits have been filed for redevelopment of Lafayette Square mall
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The developer and owner of Lafayette Square mall, Fabio de la Cruz, met with the city a few months ago, but he has not filed for any building permits or land use petitions or asked the city for tax incentives for the mall redevelopment, I-Team 8’s Richard Essex was told Thursday.
The developer of the Window to the World Project has a very aggressive timeline to bring the mall back to life. Cruz told I-Team 8 on Wednesday that he hopes to have the building ready by the end of 2022.
For a project of this magnitude, where is the mayor or any city leadership? I-Team 8 asked Cruz Wednesday why the mayor hadn’t attended the announcement.
“We are in negotiation with them to see everything we are going to do in the neighborhood,” Cruz said.
I-Team 8 asked the mayor why he wasn’t there. “I was not invited. I’m not aware of it,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
The negotiations with the city for this project are still very early in development.
According to the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, no permits have been applied for to do any of the work at the mall, so I-Team 8 asked Scarlett Andrews of the department about where the project stands at this point.
“We were made aware of it just before, but not invited to the announcement. It is very preliminary in the process. So, for example, the Department of Metropolitan Development does not have land use petitions on file or incentive requests on file for this project at this time,” said Andrews.
Lafayette Square mall is in an Indiana opportunity zone, which allows for access to certain city and state tax incentives. According to the city, the developer has not yet applied for incentives.
“We have had a couple preliminary meetings and I think we are very much looking forward learning more about the plans,” said Andrews.
The developer plans to change how the property is used. He is planning a charter school, a hotel and 200 apartments and townhomes, which means they need to petition the city for the changes.
The approval process can take months and must happen before work begins.