The historic Bush Stadium once hosted the Indianapolis Indians and was used as a dirt track and even a car storage site — before getting converted into the luxury Stadium Lofts complex that rents units for $900 to $1,700 a month today.
Michael Cox, John Watson and his two sons turned the old baseball stadium into 138 residential apartments for $13.8 million after purchasing the property for only $1. Core Redevelopment, an Indianapolis-based developer, conducted the conversion.
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“Our biggest concern when we started this project was, ‘Who is going to show up and rent it?’ There wasn’t much housing in the neighborhood. There wasn’t much economic activity,” Watson told CNBC’s Make It.
“We were kind of pioneers when we did this project, so we were concerned about its success, and we underwrote it conservatively.”
Renovations began in August 2011, taking less than two years to complete. By the time Stadium Lofts officially opened in July 2013, all of the apartments had already been leased.
A surprising plan to revitalize a historic building
Back in 2011, Watson was the board chair of Indiana Landmarks, a historic preservation nonprofit organization, when it was asked to brainstorm ideas to save the abandoned Bush Stadium, which had stood since 1931, from being demolished.
Watson says he and other members of the organization considered revitalizing the space for soccer and baseball again — but this plan didn’t go through due to lack of funding. Their other idea was to convert the stadium into residential apartments.
“Often cities dispose of properties to nonprofits for disposition,” Watson said. “That is what happened here.”
Indianapolis transferred the property’s deed to Indiana Landmarks for $10 and the organization then sold it to Cox, Watson and his two sons for $1.
“Initially, people thought that we were crazy for wanting to turn an abandoned baseball stadium into apartments,” Cox, the principal at Core Redevelopment, told Make It.
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The stadium cost nearly $14 million to renovate
The developer group originally budgeted $14 million for the conversion costs and ended up spending around $13.8 million. Cox, Watson and each of his sons shelled out $1 million, took on a $6.5 million mortgage and received $5.3 million in grants from the city of Indianapolis.
Many states and cities across the country provide grants and tax credits to developers working on projects intended to preserve and reuse historic buildings. For example, the state of Indiana offers a matching grant program for the rehabilitation of historic properties that will either produce income (such as apartment complexes) or are owned and used by a nonprofit organization or corporation.
Stadium Lofts features 95 one-bedroom apartments, 26 two-bedroom apartments and 17 lofts. Each apartment has an in-unit washer and dryer, and rent ranges from $900 to $1,700 a month — average rent in Indianapolis is $1,195 a month, according to RentCafe.
Core Redevelopment also constructed an additional 144 apartments outside of the stadium in four adjacent buildings, which was part of the deal with the city to take on the project.
The addition, named Stadium Flats, was completed in 2014, cost around $13 million to construct and apartment rents go for $1,067 to $1,470 a month.
While many investors across America are undertaking such projects to address neglected property and high demand for housing — it’s also important to consider the original historic characteristics of these buildings.
Stadium Lofts is unique for its chain-link balconies, exposed concrete floors and, of course, the original baseball field, which was kept intact. Watson and Cox even kept the scoreboard, the old ticket booths and the press box, and residents get a glimpse of the past with photos of the old stadium hanging throughout the complex’s fitness center.
“We designed it such that when you walked in, you felt like you were walking into a historic stadium rather than an apartment building,” Watson said.
The developers say the project garnered a great deal of interest from Indianapolis residents.
“Almost everybody had been here for a baseball game sometime during their lifetime, so the connections were deep, and people couldn’t wait to come to the project,” Watson said.
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