City eyes development of jail, Union Station as 300 employees move to City-County-Building
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In order to make way for redevelopment of the former Marion County Jail I and the historic Union Station, provide a boost to downtown businesses, and save taxpayer money by consolidating government services in the City-County Building, the city is moving more than 300 city employees from locations across the county back to the downtown building, the city announced Monday.
Hundreds of city employees currently work in offices spread across the county, often in leased private spaces where taxpayers dollars pay rent. This move is estimated to save taxpayers $450,000 annually starting in 2024, according to the city.
The City-County Building has had ample vacant space after the courts moved to the new Community Justice Campus last year. The loss of those workers, combined with the emptying of downtown as companies allowed remote work during and after the pandemic, has hit downtown businesses hard. The City Market, just across the street from the City-County Building, has especially suffered.
Mayor Joe Hogsett, a Democrat who is running for reelection this year, said this move will help keep downtown vibrant.
"This announcement matches our commitment to saving taxpayer dollars with our commitment to a vibrant downtown,” Hogsett said. “We’re proud to lead by example in maintaining a robust downtown workforce. And in the process, we’re making local government as accessible as ever.”
As part of this move, the city will also create an over-the-counter service center on the first floor of the City-County Building where residents can meet multiple city agencies in one location.
Jefferson Shreve, Hogsett’s Republican challenger for mayor, had said after the city’s budget hearing last month that it needed to figure out what to do with empty space in the City-County Building.
“Joe Hogsett has once again shown up with ideas now that it's an election year,” Shreve said in a statement in response to the announcement Monday. “As I've said previously, it's bad financial policy to have our city employees working in privately leased offices around the city instead of in the City-County Building.”
Here are the agencies and departments moving to the downtown City-County Building:
The Department of Public Works' engineering division, Indy Parks' planning division and the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services will move from their current privately-leased offices at 1200 Madison Avenue by the end of the year
Marion County Community Corrections will move from the former Jail I site at 40 S. Alabama St. by the end of 2024
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Downtown District will move from historic Union Station at 39 W. Jackson Place by the end of 2024
The former Marion County Jail I, which is near the Julia Carson Transit Center, will be demolished and redeveloped, the city said, joining its sister facility, Jail II, where the $120 million Cole Motor Redevelopment project announced last year is already underway.
Meanwhile, the Department of Metropolitan Development is exploring creative redevelopment opportunities for Union Station, which is city-owned, and are undergoing a capital needs assessment to evaluate how the building could be used.
The city said in a media release that the move will create one of the densest blocks of professional workers in the Mile Square, supporting retail and entertainment businesses in the Market East District, where the redevelopment of City Market's campus is already underway.
Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy eyes development of jail, Union Station as employees move to CCB
