Speedway, Indiana

63 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 in community engagement and prioritizing connection and consultation for all shared futures. “Over 1,000 residents showed up in our high school auditorium when we unveiled our redevelopment plan in 2006,” shares Gary L. Raikes, Town Council Vice President. “Every consultant we spoke to then, and since then said that the level of participation doesn’t happen anywhere. We had charrettes and focus groups with Speedway residents and local business representatives engaged in planning initially for our Main Street for what would eventually be called the Speed Zone Master Plan. A second wave of public engagement continued for areas near our western boundary near Interstate 465. Redeveloping those two bookends, from the west side of our town back to Main Street on the east side, has really helped our residential areas secure investments of nearly $500 Million in retail, restaurants, hotels, condo’s, new factories and industrial investment, and expansion of existing factories and industrial companies. Property values in Speedway have jumped 150%-200% over the last decade in many cases, outperforming the market elsewhere around Indianapolis, including in Hendricks County, which is west of Speedway and Indianapolis. Hesitant to add multi-family apartments as it already has several multi-family housing apartments in place, Speedway did allow for more modern luxury apartments called the Wilshaw Apartments to be constructed on Main Street in the Speed Zone Master Plan area. “I believe they’re now about 95% occupied,” reports Economic Development Director, Todd Cook. “On top of that, we’ve added the 1300 Block condominiums, which are just wrapping up construction on Main Street. And because it’s a mixed-use area, we’ve also introduced three retail spaces, including a small business, a restaurant, and a wine shop.” With the town being surrounded by Indianapolis on all sides, Cook added that the only place left to build is up. “We almost have to go vertical,” he declares. “Our population is trending in a positive direction, which, on the one hand, is good for the tax base, but, on the other hand, does put a strain on public services.” The growth and success of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway of course helps to create