IndyStar: Ersal Ozdemir speaks on the importance of developing downtown Indianapolis
December 9, 2025
Alysa Guffey
Indianapolis Star
When real estate developer and Indy Eleven soccer team owner Ersal Ozdemir unveiled plans for Eleven Park, a mixed-use development just southwest of downtown anchored by a 20,000-seat stadium, it seemed the Indianapolis implant would finally achieve a decade-long dream that would marry his love of soccer and real estate development. But a year later, that dream turned into a nightmare.
Ozdemir suffered a major public setback in spring 2024 when Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration ditched the $1 billion plan in favor of a different stadium site.
Soon after, Ozdemir seemed to step out of the public’s eye for months. Those who knew him recognized how disappointing the Eleven Park drama was for him.
“The two of us had this conversation years ago and I know it’s been on his things to do list, so it was disheartening watching him go through that process,” said Indianapolis City-County Councilor Maggie Lewis, who met Ozdemir more than a decade ago. “But he handled it with such grace and still has not thrown in the towel.”
In the past year, Ozdemir appears to have turned a corner, unveiling new real estate projects and headlining major development conferences in the city.
His real estate company, Keystone Group, opened a splashy luxury hotel downtown this year and two high-end apartment complexes are opening in 2026. On the soccer side, the Indy Eleven could become a Division I club without going down the road of a Major League Soccer bid. And Ozdemir remains steadfast that the Diamond Chain site where he had planned to build Eleven Park is still the best place for a professional soccer stadium.
Despite the very public falling out with the city, Ozdemir remains committed to being a leader in developing downtown Indianapolis real estate.
Real estate developer Ersal Ozdemir balances life as an Indy Eleven owner. Ersal Ozdemir feels at home in the owner’s suite at the Indy Eleven and in many properties around Indianapolis that his company developed. Christine Tannous/IndyStar
“We work harder than most people and we are creative and we also look at projects holistically, not like how do I make more money,” he said from the owner’s suite at an Indy Eleven game in September, not taking his eyes off the field.
Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office declined to comment for this story.
More than two decades after launching his real estate business, Ozdemir, 51, has developed a niche spending hundreds of millions of dollars to redevelop historic buildings in Indianapolis and has picked up an expensive side hustle: owning a professional soccer team.
Founded in 2002, Keystone Group has amassed a healthy portfolio from the first project, an ahead-of-the-curve office-to-condo conversion in a building at the corner of Meridian and Georgia streets, to the recent acquisition of the former Anthem headquarters building on Monument Circle.
Earlier this year, Keystone unveiled the Intercontinental Hotel, a $121 million renovation of the century-old Illinois Building downtown that took more than a decade of work. Next year, Keystone will complete a rehab of the former AT&T building into luxury apartments.
Those who know and work with Ozdemir describe him as a perfectionist and a collaborative leader, who has both loyal defenders and caustic critics.
One of Ersal Ozdemir’s properties, 220 Meridian, is pictured Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 in Indianapolis Christine Tannous/IndyStar
“One of the things he and I bond over is a shared vision for where we are right now, and where we really could be a world-class city and it’s not like pie in the sky kind of thinking. It’s absolutely possible,” said Visit Indy CEO Leonard Hoops, who met Ozdemir shortly after moving to Indianapolis in 2011.
After 25 years as an American citizen, Ozdemir retains his Turkish accent and looks to his childhood on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to guide his philosophy on mixed-use urbanism.
More than anything, he likes to talk. Ask one question about his development projects and he will fill five minutes with a detailed answer. Asked to describe a development in one word, he chuckles and demurs.
Who is Ersal Ozdemir?
Ersal Ozdemir points out features in one of his properties, 120 Monument Circle, to IndyStar reporters on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Indianapolis. The property was recently purchased by his company, Keystone Group, and will be renovated. Christine Tannous/ IndyStar
Ozdemir grew up in Mersin, Turkey, a large port city on the Mediterranean Sea. Without stepping foot in Indiana, he chose to attend Purdue University to study civil engineering, now describing it as the “best-return-for-your-money” engineering school. The only thing he knew about the institution when he applied was that astronaut Neil Armstrong had studied there.
After graduating from Purdue in 1997, Ozdemir moved to Indianapolis. At the time Indianapolis hovered around the 13th largest city in the United States – a fact he mentioned at least three times over two interviews, acknowledging it has dropped a few spots since then. He saw room to make a mark in the mid-sized city.
Over the next nearly 30 years, he strengthened his resume and reputation as he married and started a family, moving to Carmel. He named several of his developments after his four children: Sophia, Olivia, Alexander and Valentina.
His projects started out small but turned grander over the years. Developments — such as the Sophia Square apartments that anchor the Carmel Arts and Design District to the Benjamin, an apartment complex under construction that will bring a mixed-use feel to Lawrence — caught the attention of local leaders.
“I begged him for years to come to Westfield to do a project because Ersal’s projects are amazing,” said Westfield Mayor Scott Willis, who previously served as a city councilor. “I wanted to see an iconic development like that in Westfield and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Ersal Ozdemir points out the window of one of his properties, 120 Monument Circle, as he gives a tour to IndyStar reporters Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Indianapolis. The property was recently purchased by his company, Keystone Group, and will be renovated. Christine Tannous/IndyStar
Recognizing that development and politics go hand in hand, Ozdemir has spent much of his career working with elected officials on both sides of the aisle to secure deals. He donates a steady stream of money to Republican candidates as well as some Democratic campaigns, according to campaign filings. He regularly invites politicians from both sides of the aisle to the owner’s suite at Michael A. Carroll Stadium, where the Indy Eleven play.
His 50th surprise birthday party that his wife threw at the couple’s Carmel mansion doubled as a star-studded Hoosier get together, with the city’s power players, local Democratic lawmakers and former vice president Mike Pence all attending.
“I think that speaks a lot to Ersal because sometimes politics gets in the way of getting deals done or is used to get deals done but he’s really somebody that tries not to wear any labels,” Hoops said.
Costly but completed projects
Standing on the eleventh floor of the 220 N. Meridian apartments as he gazes at the outdoor pool Keystone added, Ozdemir admits his projects can be ambitious, time-consuming and costly.
He meticulously weighs every decision, from what tenant should anchor the development to whether to double an investment into a historical renovation. This attention to detail can delay projects and send them over budget.
A Keystone mixed-use development project proposed at the northwest corner of Keystone Avenue and 86th Street has seen no movement for three years even though it was rezoned in 2022 over neighborhood opposition. The delay reflects shifting priorities within the company, Ozdemir said, and more than a year of negotiations with a potential anchor tenant.
“As you see, some of the projects are being talked about it for years, right? There’s nothing done but we don’t give up. We don’t,” he said. “If we think it’s the right thing to do we make it work.”
Nor is he rushing at the former Anthem headquarters, which he waited more than seven years to buy. The outdated corporate office Keystone bought for $6 million could become a modern office building but future demolition is more likely.
While Ozdemir said developers should not compete against one another, in response to criticism about Keystone’s track record, he points out many other properties around the city where redevelopment has stalled.
“We’re the ones getting stuff built and not talking about it,” he said.
A burgeoning sports district in Westfield
At the same time, Ozdemir is looking north.
In Westfield, Keystone is an integral part of a yearslong, private-public partnership to build out Grand Park, which draws an estimated 5.5 million visitors annually and will expand Indy Eleven’s presence there.
Indy Eleven will build a 10,000-seat soccer stadium to serve as the home field to a women’s professional team. The project is independent of any plans at Eleven Park, Ozdemir said.
The city of Westfield will pay for the infrastructure while the team will fund the stadium, Willis said, adding he’s glad to partner with a developer who has “skin in the game.” Most likely, the stadium will be the last puzzle piece built, he said.
Willis has heard the criticisms of Ozdemir but those do not faze him.
“Probably his biggest fault is he spends too much money on his projects,” Willis said. “But that’s just the way Ersal is.”
Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir spends time with daughters Olivia Ozdemir, 11, (left) and Valentina Ozdemir, 10, during an Indy Eleven match against Birmingham Legion FC on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 in Indianapolis. Christine Tannous /IndyStar
What’s next for Indy Eleven
His real estate has helped support his other passion: elevating soccer in Indiana.
In 2013, Ozdemir ventured into the sports franchise world, starting Indiana’s first professional soccer club, the Indy Eleven. In 2021, he added the women’s team.
Initially people were skeptical about the Indy Eleven, he recalled, saying no one would come to the matches. Today, the Indy Eleven insignia can be spotted on posters hanging in bars, bumper stickers on cars and on pocket schedules in coffee shops.
“Growing the Indy Eleven team in a town that couldn’t spell soccer 10 to 15 years ago was all because of Ersal,” said Chuck Surack, a Fort Wayne billionaire who became an investor of the team in spring 2024. “I think you want to give credit to the guy who’s put a lot of money and passion and heart into the team.”
And Ozdemir is setting his sights higher. In 2028, the USL league in which Indy Eleven plays will implement a promotion and relegation system, meaning the best teams will move up a division and the worst down, in an attempt to rival MLS, the country’s top league. Top division teams could be comparable to those in MLS.
These teams will need bigger homes and several owners across the country have committed to building new stadiums with room for at least 15,000 fans. The club has until the 2028 season to at least commit to building a new stadium to qualify for the top division.
Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir watches an Indy eleven match against Birmingham Legion FC on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Indianapolis. Christine Tannous/IndyStar
Fans tired of the club’s uncertain future and disappointed with the team’s record want to see more investment on and off the pitch, said Mike Slocum, president of the Brickyard Battalion, the Eleven’s official supporters group.
“A lot of things are in limbo. Fans coming to fewer performances, and I respect them doing that,” Slocum said. “That has to be solved for the team to plan decades into the future.”
Ozdemir still owns the Diamond Chain site off Kentucky Avenue just east of the new Elanco headquarters redevelopment. When asked if building a stadium elsewhere in central Indiana is a feasible option, Ozdemir said only as a last resort.
For now, he’s still hoping to work with the city and the state to build downtown.
“We still believe in the vision. We still think it needs to be built there,” Ozdemir said. “It’s the right place to do it and we’re sitting on the property; we invested millions of dollars. We’d love to come back and develop that.”
