INDIANAPOLIS – The city is looking to breathe new life into the Twin Aire Plaza and former drive-in on Indy’s near east side. 

Plans to redevelop the area have been in the works for years. 

“This (the CJC) is gorgeous, of course. And then you have this, (Twin Aire Plaza) and it’s kind of an eyesore,” said Tammy Conway, who lives in the area. 

That’s exactly what the city is hoping to change.  

The multi-million-dollar project aims to revamp the 40-acre site that sits right across the street from the new Community Justice Campus (CJC) at the intersection of Southeastern Avenue and Pleasant Run Parkway.   

Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Scarlett Andrews said the city currently has five developers vying to revamp the site. 

“Some of it is empty and vacant and under-utilized,” said Andrews. “But there are some important tenants there like the Kroger and the Ace Hardware. So, there are some businesses there that you’d like to see long term stay, but then there’s a lot of empty dead space.”

Andrews said the Department of Metropolitan Development just wrapped up a two-week period of getting feedback from people living in the neighborhood and what they want to see built in the area.  

She said the developer’s proposals have been tweaked to incorporate that feedback and will now likely include retail, food, office and housing in the plans. She said it’s important to give the area a neighborhood feel after the CJC opened last year. 

“From the beginning, we wanted to work with the community not just on seeing government use and our community justice campus and just thinking about the future of the neighborhood,” said Andrews.

It’s all part of the city’s bigger plan that includes 12 different sites across Marion County the city hopes to redevelop over the next few years.   

And with plans in the works for the Twin Aire Plaza and neighboring drive-in location, people we talked to are excited to see changes finally being made.  

“I’m really looking forward to something coming of it and being much better than what we currently have,” said Conway.

“I think it’s great! You know we’ve got things looking good, and more people will be coming here and everything. I think it’s really neat,” said Eddie Russell, who lives nearby.

Over the next few weeks, city officials will meet twice to go over the five proposals. They hope to have a developer’s proposal for the site picked by the end of the year. 

Once construction is underway, the city said the project will take a few years to complete.