The edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) which hit our mailbox yesterday carries a story about the Pan Am Plaza. It includes a sidebar (is that the right term?) titled "Life and times of Pan Am Plaza."
We are offered several dates - by year - giving a brief history of the area. It was this compilation that we found incomplete, at least as far as telling an important part of that history.
1985 is the first item. We find that the city bought "... properties known as Square 88 at 1201 S. Capitol Ave." We are not told what the city paid for the area, nor are we told what the assessment for property taxes was at the time. We think that is pertinent information. (Shouldn’t it be Square 87 at 201 S. Capitol?)
1986 is when the city "gives" the property to the Indiana Sports Corp. (ISC) in exchange for an agreement limiting plaza development. Gives?
1987 is construction time for Pan Am Plaza, with adjacent building and ice rinks, to host the Pan Am Games. How was the construction financed?
1995 sees the ISC defaulting on the loan for the parking garage beneath the plaza and sells it for "...$4.25 million - below $10 million loan balance - ..." Revenue miscalculations?
2003 is the big time item. "After losing millions on World Basketball Championships..." the ISC returns the office building to the lender which sells it for $8 million. Who was running the ISC and how did it get into this terrible fiscal condition?
2007 shows the Metropolitan Development Commission waiving the original development agreement which would have mandated a penalty of "...$3 million or $6 million adjusted for inflation..." for early end of the City/ISC agreement. Another few millions down the drain?
2008 finds the ISC selling the plaza and the ice rinks. For how much and where did that money go?
The basis for the current article is the fact that their may be some hope for future development of the area. The suggestion of another hotel may be out of the question considering the fact that a hotel on nearby property is filing for bankruptcy.
In preparation for "The Football Game" substantial rehabilitation work was done on the parking garage below the plaza. This article quotes one of the new investors as saying approvingly, "A lot of things got done in a short period of time." We don’t see the need for a great rush here.
Taking into account the financial history of the property, we think the public ought to know some things. Will new construction be financed with TIF - property tax - money? Will there be property tax abatements? Will any agreement by the city include an effort to recoup the substantial losses already incurred on the property?
One last question. The city has an "agreement" with Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. (IDI) to handle the new Georgia Street operation, which already is offering free money - TIF property tax funds? - for businesses to clean up store fronts. Can someone assure us that we are not headed for another fiscal boondoggle like Union Station and Pan Am Plaza?
My guess is that any number of people *could* assure you that it is headed for (yet) another fiscal boondoggle, but they ain't talkin'.
Posted by: Leslie Baker | February 26, 2012 at 04:04 PM
We had a lawsuit about this. In late December 2007 as Mayor Peterson was leaving office, they sneaked into a stack of resoultions one that would eliminate the 30 year plaza requirmeent and make it permanent, though make the plaza about 1/10 th of its current size. The Indiana Sports Corporation claimed this was all about making the Pan Am display permanent. Actually it was all about removing the burden on the property so ISC could sell it without paying the taxpayers millions of dollars. In April of 2008, the ISC sold it for $2.7 million.
It was an outrageous last minute move by the Peterson administration to enrich the Sports Corporation at the expense of the taxpayers. Shockingly the Ballard administration supported the last minute Peterson shenanigans. That was the first indication I had that the Ballard administration wasn't going to stand up for taxpayers when it came to these sweetheart deals.
Posted by: Paul K. Ogden | February 26, 2012 at 08:26 PM
Great synopsis of the history of this site. It would appear that the management skills of ISC is not all it is touted to be.
Posted by: Pat | February 29, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Indy Faces $50 -$70 Million Budget Shortfall
Interview with Mayor Greg Ballard:
http://www.indypolitics.org/post/18786558543
Guess selling the water company for pennies on the dollar and giving away parking meter revenue has created a huge financial mess for the city.
Posted by: Taxpayer | March 05, 2012 at 08:11 AM