INDIANAPOLIS — The mayor's office announced Wednesday that the former Oaktree Apartment site near 42nd and Post Road will be transformed into what the community wants and needs.
Roughly 300 apartment units once sat on the 19-acre plot, but they were torn down in 2019 due to crime and poor living conditions.
"Multi use, we could see green space, playgrounds, outdoor space, business space, restaurants, you name it, we talked about so many things through the last 18 months of the planning process," City-County Councilor La Keisha Jackson said.
"There is crime everywhere but whew. It was just terrible," said a resident.
Since the decaying apartments were torn down in 2019, the city has since been trying to figure out what to do with the property.
"I'll tell ya, it's been a long time coming," Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
The mayor's office and Community Alliance of the Far East side are turning to residents to help transform the property.
Neighbors have until Jan. 31, 2023 to express what they want to see built here. They must fill out a Request for Information proposal.
City officials and Far East side community members say they will choose the best fit for the community.
"My hope for this community is that the community drives the process of what it wants to see this property look like and how it wants to be developed and we've been working hand in hand and the community and partners," Hogsett said. “The redevelopment of the former Oaktree Apartment site offers the opportunity to catalyze change and meet the needs of Far Eastside residents. Indianapolis is its neighborhoods and when we uplift each community, we become a stronger city, together. With our Lift Indy partnership, the Purple Line, and now the Oaktree Request for Information, we're actively working to reverse decades of disinvestment.”
One neighbor didn't want to show her face because of the high crime in the area.
She just finished getting groceries, a necessity that she says is challenging for residents.
"Right here on 42nd and Post, we barely have grocery stores right here, you have to travel. This area needs a playground somewhere the children can play. We need not more apartments, but we need grocery stores right here because you have to travel a distance to go to a grocery store. Elderly have to travel far to get groceries. Right here across the street in this that would be perfectly fine," she said.
Councilor La Keisha Jackson says her community has been neglected but is encouraged that change is on the way.
"There has not been equity in economics, equity in inclusion equity for over 50 years and it's time. It's their. time. It's our time. I am a resident here. It's time," Jackson said.
Learn more: https://www.indy.gov/activity/find-bid-opportunities
