Smith: 'I'm not turning my attention away from Angie's List one bit'

Joe Bowling doesn't like to talk about the numbers.

The 287 parcels of land that are either vacant or contaminated along East Washington Street. The mere 41 percent of properties between Downtown and Sherman Drive that are occupied. The unemployment data, or the crime statistics, or the figures on those in poverty.

No, Bowling, a long-time champion for the Near Eastside and director of the East Washington Street Partnership, doesn't like to talk about the numbers.

But these days, the numbers are about all he has. That, and hope.

"When people say what's your overall goal for East Washington Street," Bowling said one afternoon last week, "very high or at the top of that list has always been, I'd love to get Angie's List to make a long-term commitment to expanding."

Bowling and others fought hard for that goal. Put in years' worth of work, hoping that an investment by Angie's List would provide a shot in the arm for a neighborhood so run-down and dangerous that kids call parts of it "Napghanistan."

And it almost became a reality. Angie's List, pending the approval of an $18.5 million subsidy by the City-County Council, was ready to convert an old Ford assembly plant into offices. The deal wasn't universally popular, but most believe it would've mustered the votes.

But in an instant, it all slipped away.

Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law and Bill Oesterle, co-founder and CEO of Angie's List, was among the first to react.

Like many others, Oesterle insisted the law would pave the way for discrimination against gays and lesbians, and that would hurt the tech company's ability to recruit and retain talented young employees. As a result, he decided to shelve the plan to expand Angie's List on East Washington Street.

"We're unwilling to engage in an economic development agreement that is contingent on us hiring people in when the state is sending a message out to potential employees that is not always palatable," Oesterle told reporters at the time.

The news hit Bowling like a punch to the gut.

"My first reaction was to just be crestfallen," he said. "I spent the better part of the weekend going through the stages of grief before rounding the corner into acceptance either Sunday night or Monday morning."

Unfortunately, things haven't improved much since then.

Oesterle not only rejected the "fix" to the religious freedom law that so many others in the business community accepted, he has decided to step down as CEO to re-enter state politics. In the meantime, his decision to scrap the expansion plan stands, effectively leaving the deal in limbo.

Community leaders on the Near Eastside are at a loss.

"It's hard to imagine the amount of planning, community engagement that has taken place to just go up in a puff of smoke," said John Franklin Hay, executive director of Near East Area Renewal.

The deal, which had been scheduled go before the City-County Council just days before Angie's List pulled out, would've brought 1,000 jobs to the struggling Near Eastside neighborhood. It also would've served as a catalyst for development.

And thanks to a wave of current Angie's List employees who want to live close to work and the stability of businesses like Indiana City Brewing, the housing market in the area is actually taking off.

But commercial development is another thing — especially in an area full of old industrial sites sitting on contaminated land. The cost of environmental remediation is a deterrent enough. Few companies are willing to take the risk, even with the lure of economic incentives.

That's what really hurts about the loss of the Angie's List expansion.

"These are the big corporate developments that really tip the scale on permanency," Hay said. "That's what we're thinking about. We're thinking about major investment."

In truth, the Near Eastside doesn't have many other options. Bowling insists the deal isn't "make or break," but at the same time the conditions for luring new investment are "very, very difficult."

For that reason, he isn't giving up on Angie's List just yet. And, in some ways, Oesterle's decision to step down as CEO might be a ray of hope. A change in leadership might give the Near Eastside a second chance.

"The company's position over the last few weeks makes it clear that it sees itself as an agent of social change," Bowling said. "I'm hopeful that a new CEO will see the company's opportunity as an agent of change by making a similarly bold commitment by growing along an urban corridor and within a neighborhood in need of reinvestment and job creation."

"I'm not turning my attention away from Angie's List one bit."

Contact Star columnist Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424, erika.smith@indystar.com, on Twitter at @erika_d_smith or at www.facebook.com/ErikaDSmith.Journalist.