NEWS

Ransom Place residents say apartment buildings would detract

Ellen Garrison
Ellen.Garrison@indystar.com

Residents are worried that a developer seeking approval for two apartment buildings and two duplexes in the historic Ransom Place neighborhood will detract from the cultural heritage of the area and squeeze neighborhood parking.

The developer and the architect, Studio 3 Design, have tried to address the neighbors’ concerns, but an Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission hearing may decide whether they’ve done enough or more changes must be made for the proposal to move forward.

The hearing was scheduled for Wednesday night but was delayed until the commission’s Sept. 2 meeting because another neighborhood group has requested time to review the plans, according to Studio 3 Design Principal Architect Timothy Cover. He said his firm will agree to the request.

Because Ransom Place is a registered historic district, the developer, Olaf Lava LLC, has to get approval from the preservation commission for the project, which would be built on eight lots on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., West 10th and California streets.

Most of the objections have centered on the density of the project, the scale of the two apartment buildings and the proposed color scheme of the siding for those buildings. In response, Studio 3 Design reduced the number of apartments and the scale of the buildings and changed the color scheme from purple and beige to brick-red and beige.

Some Ransom Place residents say the development doesn’t belong in a neighborhood the National Park Service calls “the most intact 19th-century neighborhood associated with African-Americans in Indianapolis.”

The neighborhood, roughly bounded by Camp, 10th, West and St. Clair streets, consists mostly of single-family Queen Anne cottages, some of which date to the 1870s, though there are some duplexes.

Karl MacDorman, a Ransom Place resident for two years, said the apartment buildings are out of place in the neighborhood.

“Basically, you have historically significant houses right next to this monstrosity,” he said in an email. “Apart from being high-density, the apartment complexes do not attempt to blend in with the style of Ransom Place.”

Cover said the design of the two-family homes is meant to mimic the architectural elements that are consistent throughout the neighborhood, particularly the steep-pitched roofs. The two apartment buildings, which differ in style, are meant to transition from the older style of the area to a more urban look for the building across West 10th Street.

After a preliminary hearing and a review of the changes to the plans, preservation commission staff recommend approval of the project. But the board has yet to make a decision.

Olaf Lava wants several of the lots to be rezoned for multifamily complexes. The proposal includes two two-family duplexes at 517 W. 10th St. and at 933 and 935 N. California St. The plan calls for the two lots to be combined for the duplex.

The third building would be 21 apartments on four lots: 517 W. 10th St. and 944, 946 and 954 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. The fourth building would be 27 apartments at 1010 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St.

Ransom Place residents also are concerned about neighborhood parking, which they say often is dominated by commuter students from nearby Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

“There’s the huge issue with parking and access,” Paula Brooks, a longtime resident of Ransom Place, said in an email. “If this project is built, the entire historic character of the MLK corridor will be lost.”

Cover said the project is well within the parking requirements — the two apartment buildings must have 59 spaces, and they would provide 93.

Cover said the firm has tried to be as responsive as possible to the public’s concerns.

“We are still hearing concerns about just doing apartments in the neighborhood,” he said. “But we’ve tried to work through everything.”

Call Star reporter Ellen Garrison at (317) 444-6179. Follow her on Twitter: @EllenGarrison.