How a little-known Indianapolis developer got in position to land Amazon's HQ2

James Briggs | IndyStar

If Indianapolis is an underdog in its pursuit of HQ2, that's in part because the city's best asset — a site that matches Amazon's criteria better than almost any other property in America — is unknown even to people who have driven past it hundreds of times.

It's on the left as you travel from Downtown toward the Indianapolis Zoo, a 103-acre expanse of concrete and weeds along the White River that once included a hulking General Motors factory. The stamping plant is gone except for an Albert Kahn-designed crane bay — an elegant, if dilapidated, link between the site's industrial past and its promising future.

The site is across the street from more than 300 homes that make up a neighborhood known as The Valley. The neighborhood is closer to the center of Downtown than Fountain Square is, yet remains as anonymous and overlooked as the outline of the abandoned factory.

Ambrose Property Group saw the potential in it — the site, the river, the neighborhood and even the crane bay — as early as 2010. In a cosmic stroke of timing, Ambrose completed a deal to buy it in April, just a few weeks after Amazon selected Indianapolis as one of 20 finalists for HQ2.

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Now, Ambrose is part of a state and city effort to bring the most coveted corporate prize to a neighborhood that four years ago was deemed more fitting for a new county jail. Even without Amazon, Ambrose is embarking on a project that will redefine Downtown Indianapolis and open up the White River to residents — while, so far, attracting little attention or name recognition outside Indianapolis real estate circles.

"We don't care a ton about being on the front page of the paper," Ambrose President Aasif Bade said. "Frankly, being under the radar is one of our goals."

What Amazon wants

For Ambrose to be on the cusp of developing a prospective future home for Amazon comes down to two factors: persistence and sheer luck.

It was impossible for anyone to foresee that Amazon last year would launch a new headquarters search that all but included a photo of the former GM site in Indianapolis. Amazon is seeking a 100-acre site with proximity to a downtown and an airport in a major city.

Check, check, check and check.

Amazon hasn't ruled out going to a suburb and could choose another location based on other factors, but few cities have such a prime site to offer.

Tim Cook, the CEO for KSM Location Advisors, a firm that works with companies on site selection, said he's not familiar with all 20 markets that are under consideration for Amazon, but there can't be many better options based on the company's criteria.

"My gut tells me it's very unusual that Indianapolis has a site that is that big and that has the waterfront access and so much developable land," Cook said. "To the extent that Amazon would want to be downtown, I would think the Indianapolis site is very unique."

Cook added he's confident that Ambrose, a company with only about a dozen employees, is capable of pulling off the kind of project Amazon is looking for.

"This is not a situation where this is a developer that's taking on something bigger than them," Cook said. "They have the capacity and the firepower to do it."

Ambrose executives declined to comment on the effort to attract Amazon to Indianapolis.

"I probably can't speak directly about Amazon," Bade said, "but I can say that we're pursuing a number of opportunities that you'd expect us to."

Projects in Carmel, Monument Circle

Although Ambrose wasn't aiming specifically at Amazon, the company has spent years working to put itself in position for such an opportunity.

Bade and Ambrose Executive Vice President Patrick Chittenden are Indianapolis natives. Bade worked for Duke Realty and Chittenden worked for Meyer Najem Construction before they left their jobs about a decade ago to start their own company.

After launching amid the Great Recession, Ambrose focused on property management and construction while waiting for the economy to improve.

"We definitely wanted to go into development," Bade said, "but there wasn't much development to do."

Ambrose targeted the GM site even before the factory was demolished in 2013. It was not yet clear what GM would do with the site, Bade said, but the potential was obvious.

"There's just nothing like having 100 acres within the urban core in a city the size of Indianapolis," Bade said.

In the meantime, Ambrose in 2012 acquired and redeveloped the 111,000-square-foot Circle Tower on Monument Circle, which at the time was its most prominent property. Ambrose also has completed projects for federal government tenants and is developing more than 300,000 square feet as part of the Midtown Carmel project.

GM after resolving its bankruptcy case in 2011 relinquished the Indianapolis site to an entity called RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust, which solicited offers in 2014. Ambrose bid on the site, but it was awarded to Carmel developer REI Investments, which wanted to build a 15,000-seat amphitheater.

In addition to the amphitheater, former Mayor Greg Ballard wanted to use a portion of the land for a new criminal justice center. Both plans collapsed in 2015 after fierce opposition from residents of The Valley and elected officials.

"We were constantly being pushed aside," said Rahnae Napoleon, a resident of The Valley, who formed a neighborhood association with her husband, Jay, to oppose early plans for the GM site.

Infosys turned away

Ambrose capitalized on the failed plans — and took away lessons about how to win over The Valley.

RACER and the city spent much of 2016 soliciting feedback from neighbors. The ideas included variations of mixed-use development that would attract jobs. Ambrose participated in the process, showing residents a vision for corporate buildings, retail and housing, before bidding again last year with The Valley's blessing.

"They said if this is something the neighborhood can't support or wouldn't support, then they're not going to go into the bid because they want to be engaged in the neighborhood," Napoleon said. "They've come to meetings, they've engaged with us at events and cleanups. It's been night and day."

RACER awarded acquisition rights to Ambrose in May 2017. But before Ambrose closed on the property, its commitment to the neighborhood faced a test.

Technology giant Infosys — a prized occupant for any project — expressed interest in building a corporate campus at the GM site that would resemble its expansive headquarters in India. Ambrose decided it wouldn't be a good fit.

Infosys last month announced it would build a $245 million campus near Indianapolis International Airport.

"What they're doing going to the airport is a great match for what they want to do," said Andrew Greenwood, the senior vice president of development for Ambrose. "For our site, that type of design and environment doesn't really match what we're trying to do here. It's going to be vertical in nature and not a sprawling, suburban-type campus."

Greenwood added the plan would not have matched what residents of The Valley said they were looking for.

"One of the things we heard was, 'Don't put up walls and fences and keep us out and put something really nice inside of it,'" Greenwood said.

White River plan

Ambrose's sensitivity to The Valley has made it unusually popular for a developer.

The company's outreach efforts include hiring a staff member, Malina Simone Jeffers, who is responsible for engaging with the neighborhood.

"Neighbors said no to the other two ideas for the site, so they feel like we're there because they said so," Jeffers said. "I welcome them taking ownership of it."

That level of community engagement has made it easier for Mayor Joe Hogsett's staff to work toward redevelopment of the site.

One of the ideas residents stressed — and that Ambrose picked up on — is to open up the riverfront, which for decades has been uninviting. Ambrose is planning to make the White River central to its project.

The city is planning to piggyback on that effort and find ways to make the riverfront a destination.

"The stamping plant coming online just gave us this probably once-in-a-century opportunity to think about the river more broadly as a source of recreation, economic development and water quality," said Jeff Bennett, the deputy mayor of community development.

The city has committed to investing $8 million in public infrastructure next year as well as a future $8 million in tax-increment financing for infrastructure around Ambrose's site.

Ambrose already has outlined a $550 million project that includes apartments, offices, retail, a hotel and green space along the river. The project also will improve connectivity for cars and pedestrians traveling between the former GM site and the rest of Downtown.

Ambrose expects the project to take at least 15 years to complete.

"We're going to be transforming that whole area," Greenwood said. "It's going to start with moving the White River Parkway. That's an exciting opportunity for us to take what was the end of the river property as a barrier and make that a uniter.

"Historically," he added, "the city doesn't even realize the river's there. We want to make it the center of what will be Downtown."

The addition of Amazon would raise Ambrose's plan to an almost unfathomable level of transformation. The company has pledged to invest $5 billion and hire up to 50,000 people in the city it chooses for HQ2.

Indianapolis is a long shot, if for no other reason than it faces competition from 19 other markets, many of which are ready to pile on billions of dollars in incentives. The Hogsett administration has repeatedly declined to discuss Amazon and has downplayed the significance of incentives.

Jeff Miller, a City-County Council Republican whose district includes the former GM site, said Ambrose's property is Indianapolis' one clear advantage in the hunt for Amazon. Miller, who fought against the amphitheater and jail plans for the site, said he doesn't think the city can compete on incentives.

"Indianapolis doesn't have the coffers," Miller said. "What we have is 100-some acres and it's yours. It's calling you. That is the incentive."

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