INDIANAPOLIS — A once-thriving retail space on the northeast side is now an eyesore. A proposal to rezone it could fix it. However, residents say the proposed rezone is not what the area needs.
"I've been here,” Sharon Arnold said. “I got to watch it thrive, and I've got to watch it go all the way down. When a shopping center does this, the whole area goes down."
In 2018, Devington Plaza lost its anchor store, Kroger. Over time, all the businesses left. Now, a developer is looking to level the strip mall.
According to the latest documents from the city, the company wants to replace it with apartments and townhomes. But that would require rezoning for mixed-use — something several residents don't want to see.
"At this point, we would like to see Devington as a destination for connectivity for the residents that are currently residing here,” Stephanie Marshall, the chairperson of the Devington Redevelopment Taskforce, said.
Residents say if market rate and affordable housing were to take over the space, it would impact their property values.
"One thing we have known and found out over the course of this time is that no one in the community wants 525 units of market rate and subsidized apartments,” Kendall Bullock, a local real estate agent and task force member, said.
The task force says their neighbors want retail space, restaurants, shops, and a grocery store. The city-county councilor for the area says he wants the same. He says he doesn't support the rezoning of the area and that concepts for the vacant property are changing.
"There have been many revisions of what the concept of Devington as a destination can look like. At one time, that was apartment units,” Keith Graves, a democratic city-county council member representing District 9, said. "We have since moved away from that but we've got many different things on the table and I am open to many more."
Councilman Graves did not go into detail about other potential redevelopment options. The rezoning hearing for the vacant property is scheduled for December 19. The Department of Metropolitan Development staff recommends approval of the request. The staff recommendation is below.
Residents can weigh in at the Dec. 19 hearing. If the request is approved at that meeting, residents can file an appeal. The deadline to do so is at 5 p.m., five days after the Hearing Examiner decision. If an appeal is filed, the request would then be reheard at a Metropolitan Development Commission meeting after Dec. 19. If no appeal is filed, the MDC will simply uphold the Hearing Examiner decision. Regardless, this request will have to go to the full City-County Council for final approval.
