iMOCA signs on for Virginia Avenue development

The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art has signed a letter of intent to move to a proposed development on Virginia Avenue in Fletcher Place – a previously announced project that will also include 56 market-rate apartments over a 56-space parking garage.

Illustration by Perkins Von Deylen Architects The Fletcher Place Arts Building would be located at Virginia Avenue at East McCarty Street.

The Fletcher Place Arts Building – being advanced by Fletcher Place Development and Perkins Von Deylen Architects – would also feature 8,700 square feet of street-level commercial space in addition to the second-floor space which would house iMOCA. There will also be a 20-space surface parking lot at the rear of the building.

Since its founding in 2004, iMOCA has been located at the corner of Senate and Indiana avenues in the Emelie Building.

The project is targeted for 719 Virginia Ave. on property which formerly housed MAIL of Indy, a distribution and delivery firm. The tract of land sits at the intersection with East McCarty Street alongside the future route of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

Fletcher Place Development has an option on the site which is nearly an acre in size. Principal Craig Von Deylen expects the sale to be finalized in the next couple of months, with construction to be begin in early 2010.

Working closely with the neighborhood, Von Deylen has received an endorsement of the project from the Holy Rosary land use committee and the Fletcher Place Neighborhood Association.

“The design has evolved over the past many months, and we feel is a revolution in Indianapolis’ planning and design community,” Von Deylen said. “It allows for a considerable amount of flexibility for the commercial tenants as well as potential phasing for the developer. It will also bring a fresh new aesthetic approach to the built environment of Indianapolis.

“Our goal was not just to design a great building,” Von Deylen continued, “but to inspire good design in an under-appreciated quadrant of the city.”

He said Fletcher Place Development will likely file a plan for rezoning the property in the next couple of months.

In preparation to secure financing, Von Deylen said Fletcher Place Development is working diligently to find tenants for the commercial portions of the building. There is already a great deal of demand for the residential portion of the project, Von Deylen said.