The Indianapolis Star plans to move from its home at Circle Centre Mall, soon to be redeveloped by Hendricks Commercial Properties, to a nearby building owned by the same company—in a space a fraction of the size.
The Star will take about 8,000 square feet—about one-third of a single floor—at the Century Building at 36 S. Pennsylvania St., according to Rob Gerbitz, president and CEO of Beloit, Wisconsin-based Hendricks Commercial Properties. The newspaper has been located in about 100,000 square feet at the northwest corner Georgia and Meridian streets since late 2014, when it spent $10 million to overhaul the former Nordstrom space. In recent years, it has been using less than half of that space.
Both the Century Building and Circle Centre are owned by Hendricks. Circle Centre Mall, which spans virtually two full city blocks, is expected to be overhauled entirely through the next decade.
Hendricks plans to start the $600 million redevelopment with the south block of the mall property, where the Star is located, and has already vacated most of the tenants. It expects the first phase to cost about $300 million and take about five years.
Ryan Martin, executive editor of the Star, announced the news Monday afternoon. He said the move to the Century Building will occur in the coming weeks. Several sources have told IBJ that staff has spent the past few weeks packing up the office in preparation for a move.
“Our needs are pretty simple,” Martin wrote. “We don’t need nearly as much space in a modern newsroom.”
A spokesperson for Gannett, the Star’s parent company, said in an email that the move is an effort to “better support our needs and future growth.”
The Star has a newsroom of about 60 people. Its full employee count was not shared by the spokesperson.
“This transition marks an important step in strengthening our ability to serve the community and we remain committed to [providing] the trusted news on which our readers and advertisers rely,” the spokesperson wrote.
In 2022, Gannett subleased the Star’s third floor space to Direct Connect Logistix for the shipping company’s new headquarters. It’s not immediately clear whether Direct Connect will remain in the 52,000-square-foot space through an arrangement with Hendricks.
The seven-story 153,849-square-foot Century Building is largely vacant, according to a listing from the Indianapolis office of Chicago-based brokerage JLL. It has multiple first-floor tenants, including Coaches Tavern, O’Reilly’s Irish Bar and Restaurant, Pearl Street Pizzeria and Tin Roof.
The Century Building was built beginning in 1901 to house large printing presses for several companies and was converted to office use in 1984. Hendricks acquired the building in 2015 for $13.8 million.
Gerbitz said the decision to have IndyStar leave now, rather than extending its lease was the most sensible for both the newspaper and Hendricks.
“This really opens up a lot for us on those upper floors because that building is part of the Phase I south block that is moving forward,” he said. “It’s such a huge part of that … so having them out just really gives us a lot of ability to really dive deep into that particular building.”
In addition to the Star, Hendricks is separately working with Huse Culinary to determine whether Harry and Izzy’s could be temporarily moved to the northeast corner of Maryland and Illinois streets to accommodate a new hotel project on its existing property. If the hotel moves forward, it’s expected the restaurant would be incorporated into any design, allowing it to move back in once construction finishes.
The developer is also seeking eviction of Punch Bowl Social along Meridian Street, alleging in a lawsuit the restaurant and entertainment venue failed to meet rent obligations.
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