'A lot happens on Main Street': Speedway makeover nears finish line, but 'eyesore' remains
Downtown Speedway’s 15-year quest to be more than a pit stop for Indy 500 visitors is nearly complete.
Restaurants, apartments, condos and gleaming race team facilities line Main Street, a turn away from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Lunchtime crowds are larger, with race team members in matching shirts scurrying to grab a bite along with race-curious day-trippers.
“Our business has tripled since we opened 10 years ago,” said Marley Mann, 27, owner of Bourbon and Barbecue, the third oldest restaurant on Main. “We still get our loyal local customers but the new car businesses help a lot and so do the apartments.”
The $375 million in investment over a decade includes a 90-unit apartment building, the Wilshaw, near 15th Street, and 1300 Block, a condominium development. The street has been rebuilt with new sidewalks and rejiggered parking. Outdoor seating at eateries is abundant.
Business owners and locals say the change has added verve to the strip between 10th and 16th streets.
“I like what they’ve done, there are a lot more options,” said Speedway resident Missy Theile, 53, as she browsed race-related clothing and paraphernalia at Three Sister and a Trunk.
Racing-related production plants and entertainment centers such as Praxair Surface Technologies, Dallara IndyCar Factory and Indy Racing Experience dominate the east side of Main, adding substantially to the workday population.
A few small businesses during the transition have come and gone but the three oldest restaurants thrive. The proprietors of Charlie Brown’s Pancake and Steak House, Dawson’s on Main and Bourbon and Barbecue said more recent additions Tacos and Tequila and O’Reilly’s Irish Pub and Restaurant are good for everyone.
“We’ve seen it all but there are more restaurants now than there ever have been and that only helps us,” said Chris Hill owner of Dawson’s, the second oldest eatery. “We do a lot of catering for the race teams and some of our regulars are from the Wilshaw. They did a good job with the street to make it walk and bike-friendly.”
Wilshaw Hotel remains unfinished six years into construction
A highly visible caution flag on the redevelopment, however, is the unfinished Wilshaw Hotel at the corner of 16th and Main. The steel structure sits unattended behind a chain link fence with a banner plastered out front with a rendering of what the 127-room hotel should have looked like by now.
“It is a real eyesore,” Town Manager Grant Kleinhenz said. “When it should be a highlight.”
The hotel has been stalled for six years because of a range of problems, from financing struggles to pandemic-related stoppages to supply chain issues. The city has proposed a $2 million loan to a new developer so construction can restart.
Kleinhenz said officials still believe the $35 million hotel will be a popular destination year-round. A nearby Marriott and a Hampton on Crawfordsville Road have high occupancy rates, he said.
"Main Street is becoming a happening place with lots of events,” he said. “We think people will come to take in the atmosphere anytime.”
The developer of 1300 Block said even locals are anxious to get in on the action: about half of the purchasers of the 14 condos are from Speedway.
“There just hasn’t been that type of product in Speedway before,” said Rebar Development CEO Shelby Bowen. “A lot of people wanted a chance to live on Main Street.”
Demand for the condos, which range from $250,000 to $450,000, prompted Rebar to change their original plans for a mix of apartments and just four condos, Bowen said.
Old Speedway City Neighborhood Association President Gillian Fletcher said some residents grumbled early on when a few old houses were razed to make room for some of the development, but fewer objections have been lodged since.
“There was concern that we were losing some of our history, which is natural, people don’t like change, ” she said. “But some of the buildings were vacant and nothing historic was taken down.”
For homeowners west of Main, any uptick in foot and car traffic brought by redevelopment is minor compared to the surge of humanity that comes around each race day, when up to 350,000 spectators go to IMS, Fletcher said.
“They have gotten so used to visitors it’s not like it’s something new,” she said. “A lot happens on Main Street.”
Speedway needs more shopping options, local say
Still, some business owners said more diners for restaurants doesn’t always translate into more shopping. The city needs to lure more general businesses to give people a reason to stick around for an afternoon or night, they said.
“They come to eat and they leave,” said Marie Hall, owner of Three Sisters and a Trunk.
Only one storefront at the Wilshaw is occupied, by an ice cream shop, and at 1300 Block, two of three occupants are food or beverage, Le Peep restaurant and Bev, an upscale liquor store recently opened B. Aren Design, a furniture, gift and home décor boutique, relocated to 1300 Block.
Fletcher said the city has told her shops should follow restaurants and to give it time.
“You get people because they are hungry, use that to get them here first, then get the other businesses," she said
Kleinhenz said, "any additional retail would be fantastic."
"We haven't gotten a good foothold on that yet," he said.
But Fletcher said it has to happen soon because there isn’t much room.
“There’s not a lot of space left,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Speedway's Main Street makeover nearly complete but 'eyesore' remains
