City Market will temporarily close as redevelopment moves forward

The historic City Market in downtown Indianapolis will have to temporarily close for renovations as redevelopment of the entire city block is planned.

Market business has struggled over the past few years between the pandemic, construction and offices moving from the nearby City-County Building.  Today, only about half of the booths are filled and some vendors worry about the future.

Atif Selwanes runs Cath Coffee Inc.

“We tried to stand for our business even through COVID and all that hard time. We really suffer, you can imagine,” Selwanes said.

The redevelopment of the block where the market is located was announced last year.  At the time, a closure of the market building was not anticipated, but the need for renovations became clear as project plans progressed.

Gershman Partners and Citimark are the private developers selected for the project, which includes more than 400 new housing units. A new 11-story building will be erected and the Gold Building will be rehabbed.

Other plans for the property include public space upgrades, alley activation and infrastructure improvements.

A private company will be hired to manage the market and the City Market Corporation that currently runs the building will be able to focus more on other efforts, including the Original Farmers’ Market.

The city set up a new TIF district to provide more than $18 million for the project.  The council also approved an additional $17 million for the campus.

Selwanes says he still wants to operate at the market, but the disruption will be difficult.

“This is the only source of income that I have, so you can imagine what's going to happen if you come up and tell me ‘okay three months’ and we don't know what's gonna happen,” he said.

The city says a timeline for closure and renovations has not been set, but that it will communicate with vendors and give them notice of plans.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org.