The Project

The Project School, to date, has completed $2,000,000 in renovation to Building Four of the National Design Factory. This renovation includes a fully developed first floor and a second floor that is roughed in and ready for complete renovation. The Project School has secured $4,000,000 in bonds to refinance the existing construction/renovation debt and to finance and complete the second floor renovation. For the last few months, The Project School has been working with students, staff and Ratio Architects to develop a plan for the second floor renovation.

Download the Floorplans>>

Download the Interior Concept>>

The Indianapolis Project School is located in an existing office building at the corner of 22nd Street and Yandes Street. The building originally housed the National Automobile Vehicle Company in the early 1900s, one of the largest automobile plants in the country when it was originally built in 1904. The National Automobile and Vehicle facility has over 260,000 square feet of enclosed space. The Project School began renovation of Building Four of the National Design Factory in the spring of 2008. To date the school has renovated over 13,000 square feet that currently houses half of the students attending The Project School. This space is a progressive re-use that combines the history and character of the original National Automobile Factory with state-of-the-art technology and architecture to create a unique and inspiring 21st Century School.

The Martindale on the Monon Live/Work District is a bold development initiative that will work off the momentum from its recent single-family development as well as a recently revitalized downtown core. It is designed as the second phase of the Martindale’s redevelopment. The redevelopment will begin to introduce a significant economic development component that serves both the residents and the greater Indianapolis community. New businesses and employment opportunities, educational offerings, workforce housing, and neighborhood services are all integral parts of creating a unique urban village setting. The live-work district anticipates up to five hundred new residential units and approximately 150,000 square feet of commercial space. The project was initiated in the spring of 2008. MBLLC is working with several commercial prospects and is also planning a first phase multifamily project.

Most recently The Project School has become an integral component of what is being called the Indianapolis Smart Growth District. Smart Growth is a concept of urban growth that seeks to reduce sprawling, low-density development on the fringes of cities by concentrating development in compact, walkable, bicycle-friendly neighborhoods. It preserves and strengthens existing neighborhoods, promoting an increased tax base for local schools and government services and encouraging more equitable, socially diverse neighborhoods. It promotes economic opportunity by integrating jobs into neighborhoods and by offering mobility options to residents to access job opportunities elsewhere in the region. It promotes mixed land uses, where schools, churches, and retail opportunities anchor neighborhoods that offer a range of housing choices. It seeks fiscal cost savings by developing vacant and underused land where there are already existing streets, sewers, gas mains, and other necessary infrastructure. It seeks to reduce traffic congestion through these mixed land uses by promoting strong urban neighborhoods close to existing employment centers and by offering transit, greenway, and sidewalk connections. It also seeks to improve the health of people and the environment by reducing fossil fuel use, encouraging a walkable lifestyle, and providing ample public open space for recreation as well as ecological protection. The Project School is one of the first organizations to invest in this vision of smart growth. We are leading the way for others that will come.