The Program and the Phase Dates
Hendricks Commercial Properties named its Circle Centre Mall redevelopment Traction Yards on December 12, 2025. The release describes a two-city-block property rebuilt as an open-air district with retail, dining, entertainment, residential, office and public plazas. The published program lists approximately 400,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment, 100,000 square feet of office, more than 300 residential units, and significant public plazas and green space.
Phase dates differ by publisher. The December 2025 release and Visit Indy's new-developments page give the first major phase a 2029 target, and Visit Indy prices the project at $600 million. The HVS Indianapolis market note of September 8, 2025 and Visit Indy's construction updates page give the current phase, the southern end of the existing footprint, a 2030 completion.
No published schedule assigns a bookable date to a plaza, a retail unit or a dining unit. The 400,000 square feet is a program figure, and a planner cannot hold space against it today.
Off-Site Space a Planner Can Hold Now
The Indianapolis Artsgarden sits above the intersection of Washington and Illinois Streets at 110 West Washington Street. The Arts Council of Indianapolis owns and operates it, and the venue states it is continuing operations as normal during the start of construction at Traction Yards.
Its published capacity is 400 standing, 225 for a main-floor seated dinner, and 250 with the balcony in use. The venue presents more than 250 concerts and community events a year.
Rental rates come from the Artsgarden's own information sheet. A ceremony of up to two hours runs $2,000 Monday to Thursday, $3,000 Friday and Sunday, and $4,000 Saturday. A reception of up to five hours runs $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000. A ceremony with a reception over six hours runs $3,500, $5,000 and $6,000. Each hour beyond the standard timeframe costs $1,000.
The fee covers venue management, event security, technical support, 5-foot round tables for up to 256 guests, white chairs for up to 300, cocktail and cafe tables, lighting, a complete public-address system, audio-visual equipment, digital music channels, a Steinway concert grand piano, temporary decoration storage, dressing rooms, coat racks and display easels. Anything outside that inventory rents through the caterer or another supplier at an extra fee.
The exclusive caterers are Ritz Charles Catering and Conrad Indianapolis. Booking runs through the event request form at indyarts.org, then a signed contract with a deposit. A certificate of insurance is due at least 90 days before the event and the balance seven days before.
One risk needs a written answer. IBJ reported in September 2025 that the Arts Council and Hendricks were evaluating the structure's future, with renovating, rebuilding and relocating all on the table, and that the Arts Council expected a closer look once its venue assessment finished. Ask the venue to confirm its hold calendar for your dates.
Georgia Street From October 2026
Georgia Street runs three blocks between the Indiana Convention Center and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Visit Indy states the design intent for the rebuild: a public outdoor space that convention and meeting planners can activate to extend an event's footprint outdoors. The west block opens in October 2026, and work on the remaining two blocks begins in the near future.
The corridor is closed to vehicles and pedestrians between Capitol Avenue and Illinois Street at the time of writing, so a group function on Georgia Street starts with the reopening date.
What Arrives After the Corridor
Three venues come online behind the rebuild. Ole Red, the Opry Entertainment Group bar, restaurant and venue with Blake Shelton, takes 37,000 square feet at 231 to 235 South Meridian Street for a late 2027 opening, with a main dining area, an indoor bar, a covered rooftop bar and two performance stages.
A Live Nation venue of 4,000 capacity and 80,000 square feet is under construction at Pennsylvania and Georgia Streets for completion in fall 2027. The operator's own release puts staffing at more than 300 full-time jobs starting at $20 an hour.
The Ritz-Carlton Indianapolis is scheduled for early 2028 with 176 rooms over 15 floors, connected to Gainbridge Fieldhouse by skywalk. The Signia by Hilton Indianapolis brings 803 rooms, a 38-storey tower and 235,000 square feet of meeting space with a 50,000-square-foot ballroom, and Visit Indy dates it to 2026.
The Hotel Package Behind the District
Visit Indy lists 12 hotels and 5,200 rooms connected by enclosed skywalks, rising to 13 properties and 5,500 rooms once the expansion completes, and more than 10,000 rooms within walking distance of the convention center. The convention center reports 7,100 downtown rooms, 4,700 of them skywalk-connected, and more than 200 downtown restaurants within walking distance.
RFP Timing Against a 2029 Delivery
Three items belong in the written contract for a phased district: the first date a named plaza or venue unit is available for a function, the construction schedule governing the corridors a group will use, and a rebooking clause if a phase slips. None of the three is published today.
The closure list a sales team works against sits on Visit Indy's construction updates page, last updated in July 2026. Capitol Avenue is closed from Ohio Street to South Street for through traffic into September 2026, with access to the Crowne Plaza available. Illinois Street is closed from South Street to Georgia Street. The skywalk between the Omni Severin Hotel and Circle Centre Mall was removed in the fourth quarter of 2025, and the link between the mall and the World of Wonders Parking Garage is temporarily closed. The parking garages stay open and street-level businesses along Meridian Street are unaffected.
What to Request
Request from Hendricks Commercial Properties and Traction Yards the phase-by-phase delivery schedule with bookable dates, the plaza programming calendar and the tenant mix for dining and entertainment. Request from Visit Indy the approved coach staging and load-zone allocation for the Georgia Street corridor. Request from the Artsgarden its hold calendar and catering terms. Request from the convention center a skywalk status map for the dates of a proposed program.