Sitting in the heart of Monon16, the house on 19th street was well-known in the community for all the wrong reasons. A magnet of illegal activity and constant police runs, the deteriorating property known as “the brothel” stood out as an eyesore and nuisance to the community.
In the winter of 2017, Renew Indianapolis took action by acquiring the tax-delinquent property from the County. On a cold day in late March of 2018, leaders and residents of the Hillside and Kennedy-King neighborhoods joined Mayor Joe Hogsett, IMPD Officers, and the Department of Metropolitan Development to demolish the boarded-up house. The demolition was possible thanks to the Blight Elimination Program (BEP), which has allowed Renew Indianapolis to demolish more than 400 dilapidated houses since 2015.
The neighborhood was already seeing the benefits of being designated a Lift Indy area as streets, sidewalks, and alleys were well underway with renovations and water line connections to an area that had not seen homes stretched along the Monon trail in decades.
Having worked many times with The Re-Development Group and knowing its dedication to the neighborhood, Renew partnered once again to create new homeownership opportunities in the heart of the Hillside neighborhood. In keeping with the neighborhood strategy of developing mixed-income housing, Re-Development Group began construction on a duplex where one side would be reserved for a low-income homebuyer and the other would be market-rate.
Thanks to our partnership with Merchants Bank of Indiana and financial support from the City of Indianapolis, Renew was able to support a first-time home buyer through our HomeSmart loan program.
Through our deep partnerships, Renew Indianapolis helped bring this property full circle and realize the neighborhood’s vision of a diverse and inclusive place to live. This is Renew Indianapolis hard at work, playing an integral role in supporting comprehensive community development, neighborhood stabilization, and quality of life initiatives through innovative programs.
