By Catherine Esselman, real estate development director
St’Art Up 317, a window of opportunity for creativity and retail activation in Downtown Indianapolis
The month of May in Downtown Indianapolis is unlike any other. The streets come alive with a vibrancy that sets the tone for the rest of the summer.
At last count, Downtown Indy had approximately 15 percent of all first-floor space listed as vacant. This presents an incredible opportunity to match the owners of those properties with the creative and small business community. Innovative, unique and eye-catching results will be the desired result of this unique partnership.
On any given day, Downtown Indianapolis welcomes 200,000 people on our streets. It’s estimated that the number swells to 500,000 in May. With all of that energy and foot traffic, why not maximize the exposure and take what is currently a vacant window or storefront and activate with our best and brightest?
That’s what St’Art Up 317 hopes to do in this pilot program. We’ve secured 11 unique locations – three properties, seven windows and one parking lot – throughout Downtown to make available to our small business and creative community. Applications were accepted through April 1 and an announcement of the selected activators will go out in late April. Mark your calendar for May 4 for a St’Art up 317 kickoff/walking guide.
Stay tuned to www.downtownindy.org/startup317 for a complete list of locations and who has been selected to activate.
