Website
www.indy.gov/DMD
Primary Contact
Brad Beaubien
Administrator for Long-Range Planning
Contact via email
Mission statement
The City of Indianapolis’ Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) exists to promote community and economic development and perform city planning, zoning, and redevelopment activities for Marion County.
Actions
Actions are activities derived from the Plan 2020 planning process that a partner has committed to implement.
Department of Metropolitan Development is working on the following actions:
Strategy
Implement a planning and public policy strategy to identify locations and guide the development of new neighborhood nodes and villages.
Action
Conduct a development suitability analysis to determine where village potential exists, including market demand, parcel size and availability, viability of adjacent neighborhoods, and non-residential land uses
Start Date:
January 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Strategy
Implement a planning and public policy strategy to identify locations and guide the development of new neighborhood nodes and villages.
Action
Establish “complete community” criteria to meet the daily living needs of residents, including: walkability, mixed-use, and a range of housing types (affordability)
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2018
Progress
0%
Strategy
Implement a planning and public policy strategy to identify locations and guide the development of new neighborhood nodes and villages.
Action
Determine and adopt adequate public facilities and minimum public service and design standards for villages and neighborhood nodes -such as pedestrian infrastructure, public lighting, streetscape amenities, public space, transit connections, and crime prevention through environmental design
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2018
Progress
0%
Strategy
Implement a planning and public policy strategy to identify locations and guide the development of new neighborhood nodes and villages.
Action
Propose Economic Investment Districts (EID) for each existing and proposed village and node to help finance infrastructure improvements, operation and maintenance
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
10%
DMD is currently working with two community village partners who have inquired about baseline data to evaluate the potential and structure of EIDs.
Strategy
Implement a housing investment strategy focused on entrepreneurship, such as artists, makers, and other early-career entrepreneurs.
Action
Identify areas best suited to acquire properties in a concentrated area
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
10%
Internal data analysis underway
Strategy
Implement a housing investment strategy focused on entrepreneurship, such as artists, makers, and other early-career entrepreneurs.
Action
Explore a homesteading program, coupled with loan and incentive programs, in “branded” creative neighborhoods accessible to villages
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
0%
Strategy
Implement a housing investment strategy focused on entrepreneurship, such as artists, makers, and other early-career entrepreneurs.
Action
Utilize anchor institutions or community partners to provide programming, support space, or support services that complement each creative neighborhood
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
10%
DMD provided support, in the form of a CDBG investment, in Big Car's headquarters and Tube Factory in the Garfield Park neighborhood. This arts-based community development organization plans include artist-in-residence housing, a community gallery, and neighborhood arts programming.
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Expand Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) eligibility for dense mixed-use housing, through designation of Community-Based Development Organizations (CBDO)
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
0%
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Target and layer investment of federal development funds, including CDBG, HOME, Low-income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), and New Market Tax Credits
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
75%
Beginning in the 2018 funding round, DMD will target CDBG and HOME in one or two areas through its LIFT Indy initiative
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Promote establishment of Economic Improvement Districts (EID) to improve village core governance and provide support for management and enhancement of public spaces and value-enhancing public services
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
25%
Woodruff Place is first district. Currently providing analysis support to two other neighborhoods.
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Identify targeted neighborhoods for the new county-wide housing strategy
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
10%
In process of on-boarding consultant team to develop Neighborhood Investment Strategy.
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Implement a strategy where all existing schools have sidewalks or biking pathways leading to and from the school to the surrounding neighborhood
Start Date:
May 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
10%
Adopted Walkways Pedestrian Plan, which considered destinations like school in funding priorities
Strategy
Provide private market confidence through leading and sustained public investment and commitment.
Action
Develop and publish a set of school siting criteria
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2018
Progress
0%
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Align transportation planning with industrial renewal efforts by accounting for freight (truck and rail) by looking at capacity constraints and modal disconnects (e.g. more frequent and longer freight trains producing more at-grade crossing delays)
Start Date:
January 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
0%
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
5%
Funding has been secured for the Transportation Integration Plan process, which will begin in 2Q 2017
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Develop implementation process that requires coordination between DMD, DPW, DCE, IndyGo, Blue Indy, Indy Parks and other internal city agencies and municipal corporations to assure best use analysis and leveraging of investments
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
10%
DMD's Transportation Integration Planner has started to convene transportation-integration meetings of cross-departmental staff to begin improving inter-departmental coordination. Transportation Integration Plan process will begin 2Q 2017.
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Incorporate current, pending and future regional pedestrian plan, freight plan, bike connectivity plan, greenways plan, and IndyConnect into thoroughfare plan and other city technical plans as identified in Plan 2020
Start Date:
December 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Transportation Integration Plan process will begin Q2 2017.
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Consider utilities coordination and multimodal infrastructure improvement as part of construction timeline
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Coordinate all modes of transportation to create interconnected system, including BlueIndy, Bike Share, etc
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Transportation Integration Plan process will begin Q2 2017.
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Integrate Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) into land use planning system
Start Date:
September 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
20%
In addition to the Red Line TOD Strategic Plan, which provides a TOD policy overlay on top of existing plans along the Red Line rapid transit line, DMD staff are working on a TOD overlay to be incorporated into a new land use classification system that will be a part of the Plan 2020 update to the county-wide land use plan.
Strategy
Establish protocol for cross-departmental coordination.
Action
Plan and rezone MU-3 and MU-4 mixed-use zoning districts
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
25%
In partnership with the International Marketplace Coalition, DMD is developing the model plan and model process for establishing a new MU-3/4 zoning district for a portion of the International Marketplace. This will provide DMD staff with the model to replicate this new tool, provided by the new IndyRezone zoning ordinance, in other places around Indy. In addition to IMC, DMD is beginning to work on two mixed use districts around the Methodist Hospital Campus.
Strategy
Develop a resiliency master plan to guide governing agencies and services.
Action
Complete and implement a county-wide Resiliency Master Plan
Start Date:
January 1, 2017
Completion Date:
December 31, 2018
Progress
0%
Strategy
Incentivize and reinforce sustainability/livability in the private sector.
Action
Identify ways to make “invisible” things “visible” through real time reporting on local health indicators (IndyVitals)
Start Date:
July 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2020
Progress
50%
IndyVitals launched at indyvitals.org, with health data including birth health, health insurance coverage, food access, bicycle/pedestrian automobile crashes, and crime. DMD and partners continue to pursue funding and new partnerships to integrate additional data into the system.
Strategy
Create greater local capacity to lead economic growth and development in urban neighborhoods in order to put into productive use underutilized space including brownfields.
Action
Identify/create lead entity responsible for assembling and remediating (as necessary) vacant industrial space
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
20%
DMD Implementation Partner, RenewIndy, is moving into Comm/Industrial land. DMD acquired RCA Plant for Land Bank.
Strategy
Spur business growth through implementing place based investment in innovation zones and entrepreneurship districts.
Action
Identify place-based innovation and entrepreneurship districts
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
One of the first steps for completing this action step will be to identify a lead entity for each zone/district
Strategy
Create greater local capacity to lead economic growth and development in urban neighborhoods in order to put into productive use underutilized space including brownfields.
Action
Identify and pursue federal funds that will bolster manufacturing re-use and innovation in Indianapolis
Start Date:
September 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
15%
DMD led GM Stamping Plan reuse study, supported partner NEAR in getting EPA Brownfield planning grant for RCA Plant site.
Strategy
Spur business growth through implementing place based investment in innovation zones and entrepreneurship districts.
Action
Use planning and zoning tools to support and enable innovation zones and entrepreneurship district
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Strategy
Take inventory of and maintain a list of third spaces within neighborhoods.
Action
Conduct a public places gap analysis and create an action plan
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
10%
A Plan 2020 Bicentennial Fellow project developed a model for conducting this analysis.
Strategy
Take inventory of and maintain a list of third spaces within neighborhoods.
Action
Develop criteria for siting a new 3rd place and ways to designate an existing place as a 3rd place
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
Strategy
Engage the private sector to become committed to a culture of exceptional quality and design.
Action
Building off of the Regional Center Design Guidelines, develop a process by which districts may opt-in to minimum design standards for all residential and commercial development
Start Date:
January 1, 2016
Completion Date:
December 31, 2017
Progress
0%
DMD will be working to update and upgrade the existing Infill Housing Guidelines document and create a parallel Neighborhood Commercial Guidelines document to be part of an opt-in overlay as part of the new land use planning system that will be part of the Plan 2020 update to the countywide land use plan. Implementation of this system will be in a future phase of the land use plan. DMD partnering with River West Great Place on pilot project to explore design guidelines.
Strategy
Engage the private sector to become committed to a culture of exceptional quality and design.
Action
Establish an urban design action team to review everything that is awarded DMD funding (HOME, CDBG and TIF) for its design
Start Date:
August 1, 2015
Completion Date:
December 31, 2016
Progress
50%
An urban-design action team was established in the fall of 2015 to perform design review on all projects DMD supports through its CDBG and HOME programs, and this requirement is part of all 2016-funded contracts.