Indianapolis Airport Authority gets OK from FAA to close heliport
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Federal administrators have approved an Indianapolis Airport Authority’s plan to permanently close the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport after IU Health’s LifeLine operation relocates to Hancock County late next year.
The Federal Aviation Administration, in a letter dated Nov. 25, informed the airport authority it can move ahead with decommissioning the heliport property to make way for the site’s eventual redevelopment.
The authority has not publicly disclosed its target closure date for the heliport. In a statement to IBJ, a spokesperson for IU Health said LifeLine “will remain active at the downtown heliport through 2025.”
IU Health has agreed to lease 11.4 acres at the Indianapolis Regional Airport in Hancock County for a new LifeLine helicopter transport headquarters near Greenfield that could begin as soon as Oct. 1, 2025.
Airport authority officials said late Monday that the plan for the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport property remains the same as it was nearly four years ago when IBJ first reported that the authority had reached a deal with the city to broker the sale of the property for future projects. The authority said in May it was moving ahead with decommissioning the property.
The non-binding memorandum of understanding signed in 2021 allows the city to work with the authority to either find a third-party developer or to sell the property to the city or a related organization, such as the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County or the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development.
While ideas for what could be done with the property were ill-defined at the time the agreement was authored, the heliport has since become the centerpiece of Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to develop a stadium district that would be home to a Major League Soccer club.
The city has been working closely with an undisclosed investor group on the effort and is now beginning to assemble land for such a development, which is expected to encompass about 17 acres on the near-east side of downtown between Alabama and East streets, south of Washington Street.
The city on Monday confirmed it is also working to acquire a one-acre parcel—an 80-space parking lot—within those boundaries that would likely be integrated into stadium redevelopment.
The city—or any other entity that would buy the property—would be required by the FAA to pay fair market value. While new appraisals are expected to be done on the site, a pair of 2022 evaluations determined the site to be worth anywhere from $9 million to $10.5 million.
While public documents generally show the site being about 4.9 acres, the FAA considers just under 5.4 acres to be under its purview related to the heliport, including the heliport structure, the landing pad and land abutting roadways and train tracks.
“After a nearly four-year deliberative process, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a determination letter to the Indianapolis Airport Authority authorizing the decommissioning of the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport,” Megan Carrico, senior director of public affairs for the airport authority, said in a statement.
“The Heliport will remain open and active until its only tenant, IU Health LifeLine, moves its operations to a new facility at the Indianapolis Regional Airport. That transition, along with some additional steps required by the FAA, must be completed before the heliport’s closure can occur. The IAA plans to sell the site for fair market value—as FAA regulations require.”
In addition to LifeLine operations, private operators such as Fort Wayne-based Sweet Helicopters and other aviation enthusiasts would be permitted to continue using the heliport until it is fully decommissioned.
In order to complete the decommissioning and closure process, the airport authority must meet nearly a dozen requirements outlined in the FAA’s letter, including:
- Submission of the final proposed permanent closure date, with at least 90 days notice to provide for inclusion in the Federal Register (30 days) and to cancel approach procedures;
- Remove all airworthy aircraft and operations from the facility;
- Airspace study indicating plans for proposed construction or alterations to the heliport;
- Updated appraisals and independent review of the appraisals to show fair market value for a purchase within six months of closure date;
- Commitment to comprehensive study on eVTOLs—short for electric vertical takeoffs and landings, the name given to aircraft that can act like helicopters near the ground but fly like small planes—that will begin before approval to close is granted, and will be completed within three years;
- Issue any notices required to complete closure, as well as destroy any markings and lighting associated with its operation;
- Sell the property for at least fair market value and provide appropriate documentation.
The airport authority received about $6.71 million in federal funds for the heliport from 1983 to 2020: $4.2 million in discretionary funds, $2.48 million in airport improvement program funds and $20,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. That includes just less than $575,000 to acquire the heliport property.
As part of its agreement with the FAA, the airport authority will repay the outstanding portion of its airport improvement program grant, which will be prorated based on the date of closure.
The authority has also “committed to building a vertiport” at Indianapolis International Airport “at the appropriate time,” in addition to the air mobility study it will complete as part of the decommissioning process with the FAA, according to the letter. The group has not previously said publicly it would establish a vertical take-off and landing operation at the airport.
The FAA said neither it nor the airport authority has received a formal request to acquire and operate the airport since the Indianapolis Airport Authority first indicated a desire to close the property to the federal government more than three years ago.
Even so, the plans to decommission the property have generated extensive pushback from some in the private sector, including Chuck Surack, the Fort Wayne entrepreneur and former owner of Sweetwater Sound who said he regularly uses the heliport for business dealings and other trips to Indianapolis.
“The FAA considers, among other relevant details, whether a release of the federal obligations constitutes a net benefit to civil aviation,” the administration said in its letter. “The FAA finds the release of the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport property constitutes a net benefit to civil aviation.”
The FAA did not provide a response to IBJ’s request for comment for this story.
