Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis begins demolition of long-troubled Towne and Terrace housing complex
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett gives update on Towne and Terrace on east side
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett spoke with other officials during a press conference Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Indianapolis.
The city of Indianapolis has started tearing down eight vacant buildings at Towne and Terrace, a blighted housing complex on the far east side, and has paid to relocate a total of 120 households to allow for demolition of the entire site by early 2026.
Built in the 1960s, the townhome complex near 42nd Street and Post Road devolved into a hotbed for drug dealing and crime in recent years, in part because of mismanagement by prior homeowners association leaders, the city says. City officials began buying up the complex’s 32 buildings following a 2022 settlement that ended a nine-year legal battle with the HOA, Towne and Terrace Corp.
The city has set aside $14.4 million to buy and demolish 32 buildings and relocate about 120 households at Towne and Terrace. Demolition started Monday on eight buildings, and 23 remaining properties will come down throughout 2025, according to Aryn Schounce, senior policy adviser to Mayor Joe Hogsett. The first building was demolished in 2023.
“This demolition is more than just removing buildings,” State Sen. La Keisha Jackson, whose district includes the Towne and Terrace site, said at a press conference Monday in nearby Mt. Carmel Church. “It’s about restoring hope and assuring safety for the families who lived here.”
Once the complex is razed, Schounce told IndyStar, officials will plan the future of the site in tandem with the neighboring Oaktree Apartments, another property the city acquired and demolished. Schounce said the two sites work better together as one 38-acre mixed-use redevelopment project, rather than two separate smaller ones.
Hogsett said police have received fewer calls for service to the housing complex since the city demolished one building last year. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department also installed four surveillance cameras at the site and increased patrols of the area.
“We look forward to continued improvements in public safety as more buildings come down over the coming months,” Hogsett said.
How the city is relocating Towne and Terrace residents
Officials expect the 20 households remaining on the site to find new homes by this spring, with the help of employees in the Department of Metropolitan Development.
Under the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act, the city offered subsidies to tenants so they could pay the same monthly rent as they did at Towne and Terrace for the next three and a half years. For owner-occupants, the city had to pay the difference between the cost of any new comparable home and their home at Towne and Terrace. The city also reimbursed moving expenses.
Liz Durden, a Towne and Terrace resident since 1989 and the current HOA president, said she was reluctant to leave when the city first shared plans to raze all 32 buildings last April.
In the following months, however, Durden found a more expensive single-family home on the far east side, and the city paid for the difference. Now, the 62-year-old grandmother said she owns a better home without any monthly mortgage payments.
Although the process was stressful and she’s sad to see the place where she made so many memories destroyed, Durden has embraced the change.
“I’m real emotional about it, but it gets better and better and better,” Durden said, “because when I walk through the door of my new home, I love it.”
Email IndyStar Housing, Growth and Development Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis Democrat Andrea Hunley to seek bid for mayor’s job in 2027
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — State Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat representing Indianapolis, has announced her candidacy for a bid to run for mayor of Indianapolis in 2027.
Hunley, who had previously teased a mayoral run, has scheduled a launch event for May 8 as her official kickoff her campaign to lead the city, said her campaign website. The Assistant Minority Leader in the Senate announced in January that she would not seek another term in the Indiana Senate, to which she was elected in 2022.
Hunley’s website says, “Indianapolis is my city. Our city. As someone who knows this city, someone who has served this community as a public school teacher leading our children and supporting families, I am committed to the future of the people of Indianapolis.
“Indianapolis is the economic driver and a key cultural hub for our state. Our city boasts creative entrepreneurs and long-standing local businesses, vibrant neighborhoods and corporate headquarters, community-centered nonprofits and public schools. I aim to champion a better quality of life by listening to and working alongside the people, businesses and neighborhoods that make up our great city.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett has not disclosed if he’s seeking a fourth four-year term.
City-County Council Member Vop Osili in January announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
In the same month, Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination to run for mayor. She’s running this year to continue in the trustee’s job, which she has held since 2019.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, who had been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for mayor, announced in January he would seek another four-year term this year for his current job. However, he did not rule out running for the Democratic bid for mayor in 2027.
Indianapolis, IN
Louisville native set to make debut in Indianapolis 500
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – While Louisville is famous for one race in May, a Derby City native is set to make his first appearance in a different iconic May race.
Jacob Abel will be making his first appearance in the Indianapolis 500 on May 24, racing for Abel Motorsports, founded by his father, Bill Abel.
“I am excited and grateful to be able to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to have a shot at the Indianapolis 500. It’s been a lifelong dream to compete in that race and to have the opportunity to do it with Abel Motorsports and Chevrolet makes it even more special,” Jacob said.
Both Abels, the driver and the team, had breakout years in 2024 with three pole positions and three wins in the INDY NXT drivers’ championship, propelling the 25-year-old driver to the NTT INDYCAR Series the following year.
Practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500 begins on Tuesday, May 12 with qualifying being held on May 16 and May 17. The race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway goes green on May 24, coverage begins at 10 a.m.
Copyright 2026 WAVE. All rights reserved.
Indianapolis, IN
IMPD: Man stabbed in downtown Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS — A person was stabbed in downtown Indianapolis Sunday evening.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the intersection of East Market and North Delaware Streets around 8:28 p.m. to investigate a stabbing. When police arrived at the scene, they located an adult male victim with apparent stab wounds.
IMPD has confirmed that the victim was transported from the scene to a local hospital in critical but stable condition.
Investigators believe the stabbing “stemmed from a disturbance between multiple individuals and the victim.”
IMPD has reported that it has not identified or detained any suspects or persons of interest at this point in its investigation of the stabbing. Police have indicated that they are hoping witnesses come forward with information that can help them identify or locate the suspects.
“The officers now are doing a complete investigation,” IMPD Lieutenant Frank Wooten said during a media briefing Sunday night. “They’re going to investigate this to the best of their ability. We’re going to try to locate our suspect, arrest the suspect, prosecute the suspect and hold that suspect accountable for this heinous crime in Indianapolis. This is not an indication of what our city is about. This is not an indication of what we do downtown, and we hold this to be very serious. So, we will hold whoever did this responsible for their actions tonight.”
Sunday night’s stabbing represented a continuation of a violent weekend in downtown Indianapolis.
Early Sunday morning, two men were critically injured in a shooting near a White Castle on South Street. Before that shooting occurred, police arrested two juveniles on gun charges at Monument Circle.
Police also conducted a shooting investigation near the Hilton hotel located at 120 W. Market St. around 4 a.m. Sunday. Nobody was injured in that shooting.
Elsewhere in the city, a person was injured in a shooting in a CVS parking lot on Kentucky Avenue Saturday evening. Another individual was killed in a shooting outside a residence in the 2300 block of South Pennsylvania Street Saturday night.
Public police reporting systems indicate IMPD has investigated nine shootings that caused injuries since midnight Saturday. During that same timeframe, IMPD has investigated six shootings that did not result in any injuries and five stabbings.
Numbers available on shootings and stabbings in IMPD’s public reporting system may not be complete, as some reports on weekend shootings and stabbings may not have been entered yet.
“This is not what we want Indianapolis to be,” Wooten said. “This is not what we expect out of the citizens of Indianapolis. We expect them to be safe, come downtown and have a good time, and be able to go home the same way they came down here. So, we will hold these suspects, once located, accountable for this crime.”
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