The Sunday Post - October 25, 2026: Washington What? The Budget Passed 17-7, and a New Park
A weekly report from Councilor Michael-Paul Hart — Building the Smartest City in America.
Volume 2, Issue 43
Washington What?
This week, a company called BRC Commercial Properties LLC announced a $5 billion hotel and resort proposal for Washington Square Mall. The Indianapolis Business Journal covered it. WISH-TV covered it. The story went everywhere.
I posted a video about it that has now been viewed more than 8,000 times. That tells you how much people care about the future of this property.
So here is what I want you to know.
Do not get your hopes up.
The group organized the meeting themselves. In fact, these are the same two men who interrupted my press conference in March when we announced the professional redevelopment study with Schmidt Associates.
More importantly, there is no committed financing, no agreement with the property owners, and nothing filed with the Council or Metropolitan Development Commission. This same group came forward last year and never produced financing.
They don't even control the property.
Our Washington Square Vision Plan explains why that is such a big deal:
"The mall site is 20 parcels with 17 different owners from 11 states. Land assembly should begin now, before any redevelopment plans are released, to avoid sale price inflation."
Twenty parcels. Seventeen owners. Eleven states.
That is a complicated redevelopment project before you even start talking about what to build.
A serious developer needs a path to controlling the land, an understanding of the zoning, and a realistic financing plan. Announcing a massive project before doing that work can actually make redevelopment harder. Our own study warns that public announcements before land assembly can drive up property prices.
Now let's talk about that $5 billion.
For perspective, the Signia by Hilton downtown is the largest hotel project in Indianapolis history. The Council authorized up to $625 million in bonds, and the Capital Improvement Board later committed up to another $70 million. That is a project in the heart of downtown, next to our convention center, and it still required substantial public financing.
Meanwhile, Washington Square sits in a retail submarket averaging $14.12 per square foot in rent, the second lowest of 27 submarkets in Indianapolis.
And we are supposed to believe a $5 billion resort is ready to move forward without even controlling the land?
I want big investments on the east side. I have spent years working to bring them here. But I have also watched this community get its hopes up over promises that never became anything.
We deserve better than another announcement that goes nowhere.
The Budget Passed 17-7
Here is my honest assessment.
This budget lacks vision.
My issue is not with any one line item. It is the lack of a plan behind the numbers.
Where is the investment in our townships? We passed a wheel tax, yet not one dollar goes toward sidewalks, one of the most common requests I hear from residents.
There is no plan for the redevelopment of major vacaent sites that blight our townships.
These are real needs in our communities, and I don't see a long-term plan to address them.
A budget is a statement of priorities. We are spending nearly $1.9 billion. What are we trying to accomplish? What do we want Indianapolis to look like ten years from now?
I don't think this budget answers those questions.
I made that same point during my interview on Hammer and Nigel this week. You can watch that clip below.
Breaking Bread: The Report
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Breaking Bread Together, an event hosted by Elanco and Shepherd Community Center with former Governor David Beasley. The organizers promised to compile what they heard into a report. That report is now finished.
The biggest takeaway: Indianapolis has the food. The challenge is getting it to people.
Eleven table conversations identified more than 40 programs and services already doing this work. Think about that. Forty programs mentioned in one evening, yet people still struggle to find help.
Five themes came up at every table. Poverty is the biggest barrier. Healthy food matters. People need help knowing how to use what they receive. Transportation is a challenge. And personal relationships make these programs work.
The report recommends creating a food security coalition that works with Indy Hunger Network rather than duplicating what's already out there. I agree. We have a lot of good organizations doing good work. We need to do a better job connecting them.
There is one idea I raised that didn't make the report.
With changes to SNAP work requirements, some people could lose food assistance because they cannot find or document qualifying work or volunteer hours.
The City can work with a private partner to build one place where people can find qualifying volunteer opportunities at churches, food banks, and community organizations?
We already have organizations that need volunteers and people who need opportunities to meet these requirements. Connecting the two should not be complicated.
This is the kind of practical problem we ought to be able to solve.
Panda Passed & A New Park Announced
Century Park. A zoning request has been filed for 3101 Wildwood Farms Boulevard, the future site of Century Park. The case number is 2026ZON100. Right now, I have the zoning request but not much more to share. I'll keep an eye on it and pass along details as I learn more.
Panda Express. The proposed Panda Express at 10401 East Washington Street passed zoning on a 3-2 vote.
That vote was closer than it should have been.
We have a national restaurant willing to invest in East Washington Street, bring jobs, and put an underused property back to work. Planning staff had addressed the design concerns, the Warren Township Development Association supported it, and I spoke in favor of it.
Yet it passed by a single vote.
We spend a lot of time talking about attracting investment to the east side. Here is a business ready to make that investment, and we nearly turned it away. If we want East Washington Street to grow, we have to make it easier for good projects to move forward, not harder.
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