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Indy

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 08:59:56 pm

Indy
Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Wow they finally updated the webcam image. It only took about 5 months.

http://www.newindianapolisairp...com/galleries/webcam/large.jpg

I'm not sure how recent the photo is. It appears very recent. Notice no sign of an airport hotel between the surface parking and garage? What in the world is the deal with that? Did someone win a bid that they are unable to execute? No money? I could have submitted a bid that I couldn't execute.

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Boofer

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 09:45:48 pm

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

That is one big ass garage.

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

duck

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 07:31:43 pm


Member

Joined: 21 Jun 2005
Posts: 28
Location: Indianapolis

That is one big ass garage, you have this terminal with wonderful design and your first impression is this big ass garage. Sigh. The only distinctive architectural feature of the old terminal is the garage with the spiral ramps, and what you are seeing now from the new terminal? The hotel got several bids. I know the heavy hitter was White Lodging Corp. who dropped out in favor of building the several hotels going up on the West and Washington St. site for the convention center/ super bowl. The airport authority is still in negotiations with another developer, don't know who, and the main hang up is in what condition the site will be delivered in, what utilities will be at the site and who would be responsible. It could be another year or two until we see a hotel. Didn't HOK already design the hotel, with a circular glass atrium mimicking the spiral ramps of the garage and terminal design? We have a rendering of that somewhere, it's really nice, and would hide that big ass garage.

duck

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 07:41:25 pm


Member

Joined: 21 Jun 2005
Posts: 28
Location: Indianapolis

This is still relevant as to the situation however the players may have changed.
http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=865

Indy

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 07:46:39 pm

Indy
Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

It just frustrates me how this phase of the project was handled. I don't know if someone did something wrong or if things just evolved this way. In any case the ending isn't acceptable.

Food4Geeks.com - Even Geeks Like To Eat.

Boofer

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 08:32:16 pm

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Well, it's tough to force the hotel to happen, when it requires a private company to sign up to a pretty big committment. And the business environment for airport hotels isn't exactly rosy right now. You have to understand that the climate changed - it got really tough to find new capital financing for projects such as this, and any financial models the developers might have used would have changed when airlines started cutting back heavily over the past many months. It probably doesn't help that the airport authority is pretty picky (rightly so, don't get me wrong) about the hotel design and brand. They don't want a Holiday Inn. They want something 4-star-ish, like a Westin, maybe a Hyatt or a Hilton. At least something full-service with some cachet to the name. I think it's satisfying enough that the airport is opening finally, and probably better to wait until a good, quality hotel project can go forward.

And as for the garage, I wasn't overlooking the cool design of the airport. I just think it's a big ass garage. And not in a bad way. From what I've read, that garage is going to be totally kickass.

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

Indy

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 08:55:34 pm

Indy
Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

my concern has been if they build the hotel where would the expanded parking garage go in the future? Based on the executive summary the hotel is going in the 2020 garage expansion space.

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Boofer

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:18:00 am

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I thought they built the garage to be vertically expandable. Can't they add 2-3 more levels on top? In any case, you've still got the ability to expand the garage on the other side of the hotel, I suppose.

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

Indy

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:39:57 am

Indy
Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I guess you could. Maybe add a 2nd or 3rd level bridge on each end of the garage. But wouldn't a garage sandwich take away from the hotel a bit? Also what about the extremely long walk then? Another concern I have is the single bridge between the parking garage and the terminal. The current terminal has 3 cross walks. Wouldn't it have made sense to have done three with the new terminal?

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Indyaviationboy

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:23:59 am


Member

Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 117
Location: Indianapolis International Baggage Claim

quick fact, the garages is the largest sq. ft building in Indiana as of now


Remote Image

Boofer

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 02:06:20 pm

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Indeed. And that's no small feat. At 2.5 million square feet, it's more than 600,000 sq ft larger than the current Indiana Convention Center and 900,000 sq ft larger than DFAS at Fort Ben Harrison. Of course, after the convention center expansion, it will be larger than the garage at around 2.8 million square feet (if you include Lucas Oil Stadium, which is technically part of the convention center).

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

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