Winthrop Avenue: Gathering Positive Momentum

This Spring, Winthrop Avenue between 52nd and 54th Street will be repaved, and receive some new sidewalks as well. This will help the stretch attract even more new investment, which has seen Developer Town, Bent Rail, and other new ventures in the past few years. The new Meridian Kessler Quarterly Magazine had a vision of a new Winthrop Avenue that will look more like a mixed-use district. I contacted Mary Owens from Meridian Kessler, and she sent me a PDF of the renderings. First off is the current condition (note that Developer Town has added some windows in the front of the building since this image was created):

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Current Condition

 

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Condition after minimal infrastructure investment

 

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Condition that would only be possible after Pacers Bike Share expands, and there is a connection in place to the Monon Trail.

 

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Vision if the house owners on the west side of the street sell to aspiring developers

This effort is a key part of the Meridian Kessler Subarea Plan, which is currently being updated to encourage form-based codes in the neighborhood. This is an exciting change that will help make the neighborhood more connected and walkable.

Comments 3

  • The plan sound great but why in the hell did they have to put a retention pond in behind the newly renovated building? Aren’t there better alternatives that don’t involve so much wasted space? Or is the alternative to not build a giant surface parking lot?

    • Fair point, I was surprised to see that as well.

    • I am not 100% familiar with the project you are speaking of, but I can say that improvements to a minimum area of land require on-site storm management. I would imagine this could be mitigated by limited pavement, pervious surfaces and rain garden applications, but again, not sure of this specific instance.

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