Indianapolis's Metropolitan Development Commission voted 6-1 on Wednesday to move forward a 99-unit affordable housing complex at the former Ritz Theatre site in Crown Hill, clearing the way for developer DTM Real Estate to build despite objections from neighbors who wanted far more retail space built into the project. The four-story building, called The Ritz, is planned for the northwest corner of 34th and Illinois streets and will include roughly 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail alongside 47 on-street and off-street parking spaces.
According to IndyStar, commissioner John Dillon cast the lone vote against advancing the project, while the rest of the board sided with DTM after the firm sought approval to add retail storefronts and reduce standard parking requirements. The Crown Hill Neighborhood Association did not support the project as proposed, the outlet reports, with association president Danita Hoskin having requested an entire floor of leasable retail space instead of a single ground-floor storefront.
Where Will Residents Buy Groceries?
Hoskin questioned where future residents of The Ritz would actually shop, per the same reporting, noting that Crown Hill residents already travel miles or ride buses for blocks just to reach groceries, medicine or toiletries. She argued more retail space would let local businesses actually serve the neighborhood rather than leaving residents dependent on car trips or lengthy transit rides.
The concern traces back to 2015, when Crown Hill's last full-service grocery, a Double 8 Supermarket at 39th and Illinois streets, closed for good, according to SAVI. More than half of the 1,500-acre Indy Health District that includes Crown Hill — over 54%, affecting more than 7,200 residents — is now classified as a food desert where full-service grocers sit more than a mile away, per Inside Indiana Business. Crown Hill and the surrounding Near Northside see average life expectancies in the mid-60s, compared with life expectancies into the 80s just 10 miles north in Carmel, according to IU Medicine.
From Senior Housing Pitch to a 99-Unit Redevelopment
DTM Real Estate is an Indianapolis-based, minority-owned development and property management firm led by president Ezra Burdix, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The 1.8-acre parcel was bought in June 2023 for $625,000 by Redline Holdings XII LLC, an affiliate of the nonprofit Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, which acquired it from former NBA player Alan Henderson's development company, the paper reports. The original Ritz Theatre, built in 1927 as a 1,400-seat movie house, sat vacant for years before it was torn down in 2022 following code violations.
DTM's initial June 2024 zoning application called for a 102-unit affordable senior housing building for residents earning 30% or less of the area median income, per the Business Journal's earlier reporting. That plan has since shifted into the 99-unit general affordable housing project the commission approved this week, and DTM plans to apply for low-income housing tax credits to help subsidize the development, per IndyStar.
Parking Cuts and the Case for Transit-Oriented Density
The Ritz sits less than half a mile from the IndyGo Red Line, the bus rapid transit corridor running from Broad Ripple to downtown, and city policy encourages dense mixed-use projects with less parking near public transit, IndyStar notes. That approach dates to 2019, when Indianapolis updated its zoning code to create Transit-Oriented Development overlays that ease or eliminate parking minimums near transit stops, according to Strong Towns. The Red Line carries 15% to 20% of all IndyGo passenger trips despite making up just 1.6% of the network's total route mileage, per CNU Midwest.
DTM representative Justin Kingen pointed to nearby mixed-use developments that have struggled to fill their retail space, telling the commission that residents come first, according to IndyStar. He cited The Stella, a 166-unit apartment development near Meridian and 19th streets built by TWG Development, as an example of empty ground-floor commercial storefronts despite its recent opening, a comparison detailed by Mirror Indy. The debate over how much retail transit-corridor apartment buildings can realistically support remains unresolved even as The Ritz moves toward construction.
Part of a Larger Health District Build-Out
The Ritz falls within the Indy Health District, a zone focused on access to healthy food, open space and safe pedestrian and cycling routes, IndyStar reports. IU Health is separately developing a $2 billion hospital complex on 16th Street in the same district, part of a broader wave of investment Hoodline has tracked, including new affordable housing at 22nd and Meridian and a $44 million Crispus Attucks overhaul. Whether any of that investment translates into a new grocery store for Crown Hill remains an open question the Wednesday vote did not answer.
