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King Park Development Corporation says it plans to build a new house on the property – and two affordable homes next to it – within the next two years. (Photo by Drew Daudelin)
On Monday morning the city of Indianapolis began demolishing a King Park neighborhood house known as a hotbed for prostitution and other illegal activities, part of an ongoing initiative to restore the city’s blighted properties.
After his speech Mayor Joe Hogsett watched as a demolition crew started leveling the house, located about half of a mile east of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
Hogsett says for years the building has been a home for prostitution and other crime. The city says in the first six months of 2017, police were called to the surrounding area 171 times.
“This initiative is about more than removing eyesores and raising property values," Hogsett says. "It’s about ridding neighborhoods of crime."
The demolition of the house is being funded through Renew Indianapolis’ Blight Elimination Program, which uses funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The land was sold to King Park Development Corporation. The group says it plans to build a new house on the property, and two affordable homes next to it, within the next two years.
Last year the mayor promised to tackle the city’s blight problem by repairing, selling or demolishing 2,000 abandoned properties by 2019. Today he says they’re over halfway there.
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