Speedway Redevelopment Not an ‘Overnight Success’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe town manager of Speedway says activities related to this weekend’s 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 will benefit the community the whole year. Jacob Blasdel says developments that along the Main Street district — such as the mixed-use Wilshaw housing project, a soon-to-be-built hotel, Daredevil Brewing Co.’s headquarters and The Dallara IndyCar Factory — continue to drive additional investors to consider the area. The recent interest and growth, Blasdel says, started more than a decade ago with the launch of the Speedway Redevelopment Commission.
During an interview with Inside INdiana Business Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman, Blasdel said the district might look like "an overnight success," but it’s taken years to reach its current state. "As a lot of people know, there’s a lot of history with Main Street that goes back to the beginning of the (Indianapolis) Motor Speedway, so it’s been booming and not so booming and going back-and-forth many times over the years," he said. "In the 80s and 90s, it kind of suffered from what other places around the country has suffered from when you have an industrial area and the economies changed a little bit and it just kind of became a little run down."
Blasdel says the long-term planning set forth by city leaders in the mid-2000 has paved the way for where the district, which is located between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the north and the Allison Transmission headquarters to the south, finds itself today.
The investment in the hotel and apartment project totals $36 million. Construction on the apartments is underway and expected to be complete by next May. Work on The Hilton will break ground in June.