Costar Impact Awards: 220 Meridian
UNDERUTILIZED FORMER AT&T HEADQUARTERS BUILDING NOW OFFERS LUXURY MULTIFAMILY, RETAIL USES
Redevelopment of the Year for Indianapolis (March 27, 2024) — The creative use of materials and innovative design has transformed a building originally erected in 1974 as the headquarters of AT&T into a mixed-use development comprising luxury apartments, restaurant and retail space, as well as three floors that maintain office space for the multinational telecommunications company.
Purchased by Keystone Realty Group in 2017 and completed in 2023, the once-underutilized building has earned a 2024 CoStar Impact Award for redevelopment of the year for Indianapolis, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market. The tower at 220 N. Meridian St., one block north of Monument Circle, saw the implementation of innovative engineering solutions to transform what was previously only office space.
At over 554,000 square feet, the size of the tower provided a notable challenge in executing the final vision. Many integration systems were implemented to turn the commercial office space into 216 residential units. The 10 elevators in the building were reprogrammed with integrated access controls.
The entire face of the entrance on Meridian Street was redesigned into what is now a two-and-a-half-story glass box. This re-imagined entrance creates visual interest in the neighborhood and proudly displays a public art project as the star of the new front lobby entrance.
Another notable challenge was integrating a 16,575-gallon pool on the 11th-floor rooftop, said to be the highest rooftop pool in Indiana. Additional steel was installed to enable a structural glass guardrail to be used as fall protection on the perimeter of the pool deck. Magnificent views of the surrounding downtown area can be seen from the rooftop.
About the Project: The 22-story redevelopment project helped create hundreds of jobs in downtown Indianapolis.
What the Judges Said: Lora Moore of ALO Property Group noted the Downtown cap injection as well as the creation of new jobs that the development has offered, plus the “beautiful architecture and design” of the building.
They Made It Happen: Keystone Corp. owner and founder Ersal Ozdemir and design firm Ovas Design LLC were the primary drivers behind the project. Aaron Haschel with CSO design services, John D. Wilczynski of IMEG engineering consultants, Bill Horton with Fink Roberts & Petrie structural engineering and Alyssa Prazeau of Context Design helped to make this project a reality.
CoStar Market Manager Darius Anderson contributed.
CoStar’s Impact Awards highlight the commercial real estate transactions and projects that have transformed their markets over the past year. The winners are chosen by independent panels of industry professionals who work in the markets they judge.