Simons building hospitality ecosystem by fieldhouse with plans to add luxury hotel, concert venue

The footprint of the Indiana Pacers on the southeast side of downtown Indianapolis would roughly correspond with a size 6,329 athletic shoe. Gainbridge Fieldhouse actually is owned by the Marion County’s Capital Improvement Board, which owns most of downtown’s major sports and convention facilities. But there’s no doubt that its primary occupants are the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, both owned to a large degree by real estate developer Herb Simon and his family. (FYI: Billionaire businessman Steve Rales has a minority stake in the Pacers.) But in recent years, the Simon family’s real estate holdings near and immediately adjacent to the fieldhouse have grown by leaps and bounds. We’re beginning to see the outlines of a critical mass of hospitality and entertainment properties controlled by the Simons that could balloon to even greater size if the Simons are involved—as they are widely believed to be—in plans to bring a Major League Soccer team to Indianapolis. It would play in an arena to be built just a couple of blocks east of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and almost certainly would use a large parcel of land recently purchased by the Simons. IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey has been on top of these developments for several years and is the man who can help connect the dots. In his latest reporting, he has details on plans from the Simons to create a $300 million luxury hotel and concert venue complex directly across Pennsylvania Street from the fieldhouse. Shuey joins us for this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast to take stock of the Simons’ current and planned investments and how they could form a cohesive entertainment and hospitality ecosystem on downtown’s southeast side. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.