James Briggs

james.briggs@indystar.com

The federal government has awarded Indianapolis tens of millions of dollars to spur development in distressed neighborhoods.

Indianapolis on Tuesday announced it has received $55 million in New Markets Tax Credits, the city's second award since the program began in 2000. Indianapolis received $32 million in New Markets Tax Credits in 2010, which helped finance construction to build the Avondale Meadows YMCA and the Ivy Tech Culinary School and Conference Center.

The latter project was a $37 million renovation of a 92,000-square-foot hotel on Meridian Street, north of 28th Street. The former hotel is now an Ivy Tech Community College building that trains 1,000 students a year for careers in culinary arts.

That project "created job opportunities right away, and ensures thousands of others receive the training they need to find jobs and prosperity in the future," said Kevin Honigford, assistant treasurer for the Ivy Tech Foundation.

Indianapolis will look for similar results as it considers applications for the latest round of New Markets Tax Credits, Mayor Joe Hogsett said.

"The true impact is not in a building, necessarily, or a place or a facility," Hogsett said, standing in the Ivy Tech Culinary School and Conference Center. "The true impact is in the lives that are changed as a result."

The New Market Tax Credits program uses private money from investors — largely banks and institutional investors — that get nonrefundable tax credits in exchange for equity in local projects. Indianapolis was among 120 organizations to get a piece of the $7 billion program this year.

The Department of Metropolitan Development will begin soliciting applications from developers for financing through the program, which can help pay for projects in neighborhoods that are considered by the federal government to be at risk.

The city is looking for shovel-ready projects that will "generate the greatest impact for neighborhoods," said Jeff Bennett, the city's deputy mayor of community development. The city has much more money to work with than it anticipated, he added.

"This time around, we hoped to receive $35 million or $40 million if we were lucky," he said. "To receive $55 million exceeded our highest expectations."

The city has not set goals for the number of projects to include in the latest round of New Markets Tax Credits funding, or specific neighborhoods where they should be located. City officials will make those decisions based on the applications they receive. The city estimates the award will help complete financing for $150 million in construction projects.

"This $55 million allocation will provide our city with the resources to break the cycle of disinvestment in underserved neighborhoods by funding highly impactful community development projects – projects that will spark economic revitalization and job creation where we need it most,” Hogsett said.

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.

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