Four-story addition proposed for Mass Ave. office building

The new owner of a historic office building at the foot of Massachusetts Avenue wants to make it bigger by constructing a four-story addition with ground-level retail on an adjacent surface lot.

Local real estate firm Gershman Partners in December bought the 108-year-old Marott Center for nearly $3.3 million and the 90-space parking lot for $889,760, Marion County Assessor records show.

Gershman Partners now has filed with the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission to build the addition on the northeast side of the Marott. IHPC is set to hear the proposal Wednesday at a preliminary review, where members provide feedback on a project but dont take action.

The developer hopes to break ground in the spring on the roughly 30,000-square-foot building, which would feature 7,500 square feet of retail space.

Gershman Partners President Eric Gershman declined to provide a project cost but described the investment as significant.

We like the combination of new and old and really think its a prime location within the downtown market, and specifically the Mass Ave corridor, he said.

Plans show a multi-level glass atrium connecting the buildings, with the second and third floors enclosed by solar control glass. The addition faces Massachusetts Avenue and Vermont Street but would be listed as 333 N. Delaware St., the address of the surface lot. Part of the lot that extends from Massachusetts Avenue and around to Delaware Street would remain.

A local condominium developer who co-owns 3 Mass condos just south of the Marott thinks the office addition will be well-received.

I would expect a high-quality product from Gershman that would be well-designed and very tenant friendly, said Todd Maurer, a principal at Newmark Knight Frank Halakar.

Maurer was part of a group that earlier this month sold the 36-story Regions Tower. Also part of the group were his father, Michael S. Maurer, local businessman Robert Schloss and Pittsburgh-based McKnight Group,

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Four-story addition proposed for Mass Ave. office building