One of the many historic former industrial sites in the Promise Zone is the P.R. Mallory Campus, located at 3029 East Washington Street. Long home to P.R. Mallory and Company Inc., the site was once a major hub for employment and economic activity on the Near Eastside. However, a decrease in employment at the site started in the 1970s when the company began selling assets. The now-vacant site is one of the eight legacy industrial sites identified as part of the Work IndyEast Industrial Reuse goals. The redevelopment of the P.R. Mallory Campus will create educational, employment, and commercial opportunities for neighbors, and will once again be a valuable asset for the Near Eastside community. With many major milestones reached in 2019, project partners are poised to continue this transformational process in the coming months.
In February, the City-County Council’s Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee approved $15 Million in bonds to fund the acquisition and renovation of two of the buildings on the P.R. Mallory Campus. PR Mallory LLC, a partnership between the John Boner Neighborhood Centers and Promise Zone implementation partner Englewood Community Development Corporation, bought the buildings and is now leading the development process. After months of discussions and deliberations, financing for the redevelopment of the site was finalized on September 18th. The financing for the project has been pooled from many sources, including tax credits from Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the City of Indianapolis, and the State of Indiana. Grants from MindTrust and Renew Indianapolis will also contribute to funding for the redevelopment project. With financing now secured, timelines for finishing construction have become clearer. Farm360, a social enterprise working on indoor vertical growing, is set to move into the main floor Bunker Building, located on the south side of the campus, in the first quarter of 2020. The Bunker Building also features a 14,000-square foot lower level which will be built out for commercial or light industrial use following Farm360’s move into the building. The other building that is being remodeled, the Administration Building, is set to be the home of Purdue Polytechnic High School and Paramount School of Excellence. Both schools will be open at the site for the 2020-21 school year. The mixed-use of the site will create opportunities for neighbors with different needs and backgrounds, in addition to aligning with multiple Promise Zone goals. The combination of educational opportunities, job opportunities, and commercial opportunities at the Mallory Campus supports Learn IndyEast, Work IndyEast, and Buy IndyEast goals, and will maximize the value of the site for the surrounding community.
After over 30 years of vacancy, redevelopment of the P.R. Mallory Campus is finally moving forward. This project will transform a historic site that was once an epicenter for employment of the Near Eastside back into a space that supports neighbors and advances community-defined goals. This project would not be possible without the many partners that have contributed to the process. We want to thank Englewood CDC, The John Boner Neighborhood Centers, Renew Indianapolis, the City of Indianapolis, the Department of Metropolitan Development, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, MindTrust, Purdue Polytechnic High School, Paramount School of Excellence, Farm360, LISC Indianapolis, LISC National, Brandt Construction, Schmidt Associates, Anderson-Bohlander, Adaptive Reuse Consulting, and all others who have helped or will help make redevelopment at the Mallory Campus possible.
