Indianapolis, IN
Downtown Indy’s Sugar Factory restaurant facing eviction, court records show
Sugar Factory makes downtown Indy sweet
Take a look inside the new Sugar Factory which opened in downtown Indianapolis.
Kelly Wilkinson, Indianapolis Star
Downtown Indianapolis’ Sugar Factory restaurant is facing eviction due to failure to pay rent, according to a complaint filed in the Marion Superior Court in early March.
Sugar Factory American Brasserie currently occupies a Circle Centre Mall location at 49 W. Maryland St. It opened in the spring of 2022.
The complaint was filed by Circle Centre Mall LLC and alleges the restaurant owners owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. Sugar Factory has been in default of its lease, due to failure to pay rent, since less than a year after it opened, court documents show.
Multiple attempts by IndyStar to contact representatives of Sugar Factory for comment were unsuccessful before publication of this article.
Sugar Factory is a celebrity-endorsed, over-the-top restaurant, candy store and bar. The chain is known for its goblet drinks, decadent sundaes and lavish entrees. The resturaunt has locations across the United States.
An attorney for Sugar Factory is not yet listed in online court records. A response to the complaint on behalf of the restaurant has not yet been filed.
The restaurant owed $333,778 in late rental payments when the mall first informed the restaurant that it was in default of its lease in January 2023.
In addition to rent payment issues, Sugar Factory was in default of its lease because it failed to provide and install proper storefront signage, the complaint from the mall states.
About a year after the restaurant was notified that it was in default of its lease, in January 2024, the restaurant was notified the mall was terminating the lease agreement due to “failure to cure neither the monetary default nor the default regarding proper signage,” court documents read.
Circle Centre Mall is asking the court to take possession of the premises and award damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and attorney’s fees.
An eviction hearing for the restaurant is set for May 1 at 11:30 a.m. in front of Marion Superior Court Judge Christina Klineman.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.
The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.
WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.
In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.
All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.
Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.
WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.
The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.
-
Health3 minutes agoNo sex for 10 weeks? Championship team’s playoff strategy raises eyebrows
-
Sports8 minutes ago2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Race Tracker: Lionel Messi Is Alone At The Top
-
Technology15 minutes agoMcDonald’s AI drive-thru may take your next order
-
Business18 minutes ago
Uber, California lawyers say deal reached to avert dueling ballot initiative showdown
-
Entertainment23 minutes agoReview: Dour and dull, ‘The Death of Robin Hood’ steals our time to give to the gloom
-
Politics33 minutes agoLong list of U.S. concessions to Iran raises specter of a ‘lost war’
-
Sports45 minutes agoJustin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria receive lengthy medical suspensions after UFC Freedom 250 fight
-
World53 minutes agoEU of six, not 27, is needed to ‘stay relevant’ – Bruno Le Maire
