Seminary Pointe demolition clock starts as downtown Bloomington land-swap hopes continue

Some buildings on the Seminary Pointe block, south of the existing Bloomington Convention Center, now have signs posted giving notice of a demolition request.

It’s a start reminder that the sequence of events now in motion, would lead to the demolition of all the buildings and the construction of a host hotel for the convention center at that location.

But in the third week of May, housing advocates saw (and still see) reason for hope that a potential land swap deal could preserve the affordable housing and commercial buildings on the Seminary Pointe block. That’s when the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) voted to extend residential leases to the end of August.

More positive news for affordable housing supporters came a week ago from Bloomington’s city council, which took a vote in support of the potential land swap.

In a potential land-swap scenario, the CIB would trade the Seminary Pointe block to the Bloomington redevelopment commission (RDC), in exchange for the College Square lot. The idea is that the RDC would then transfer the Seminary Pointe real estate to a community land trust, and the CIB would offer the College Square property at no cost to the developer of a host hotel for the convention center. There’s a major convention center expansion project currently underway between College Avenue and Walnut Street, on the south side of 3rd Street.

But at the same meeting when the lease extensions through the end of August were authorized, the CIB also authorized its president, John Whikehart, to go ahead and seek demolition permits for the Seminary Pointe property.

On Wednesday (June 10) signs were posted giving notice of the requested demolition. What has now been triggered is a 90-day demolition delay period. That’s a time during which the city’s historic preservation commission (HPC) can review a building that currently has “contributing” status, to determine whether to “release” the property for demolition, or recommend it to the city council for historic designation.

In this one of the buildings in question has the street address 424 S. College, which is home to Jeff’s Warehouse.

Bloomington historic preservation program manager Noah Sandweiss responded to an emailed question from The B Square on June 10 saying that the 90-day delay period had started that day, when the city’s planning department and Sandweiss received the CIB’s petition for demolition.

The next HPC meeting at which the case can be heard will be the regularly scheduled meeting on June 25, Sandweiss wrote.

Under the city’s demolition delay process, the 90-day period can be ended early if the HPC votes either to release the property or to nominate it to the city council for local historic designation, Sandweiss wrote. The period also can be extended by another 30 days under some circumstances by the director of the housing and neighborhood development department, if more time is needed for the HPC to decide whether to recommend designation.

“The fact that we have the permit doesn’t mean that the instant we get the permit, we would move to remove the buildings,” Whikehart said at the CIB’s May 20 meeting.

The historic preservation issue had been flagged at an earlier meeting by Bloomington redevelopment commission executive director Anna Killion-Hanson, who noted that Seminary Pointe includes buildings she described as historic. The block does not appear to be inside a local historic district, based on the city’s historic-properties map.

But the Jeff’s Warehouse and Blue Tip Billiards building at 424 S. College Ave. is listed as “contributing” in the city’s 2018 survey of historic sites and structures. Under the city’s demolition flowchart, that status can make a building subject to demolition delay even if it is not locally designated as historic.

Even though the CIB is preparing the block for possible redevelopment as a host hotel serving the expanded convention center, that is not the board’s preferred outcome. CIB members and housing advocates have both pointed to a possible land swap with Bloomington’s redevelopment commission: Seminary Pointe would go to the RDC, and the CIB would receive the College Square lot north of the convention center for a host hotel.

Housing advocates, including Bloomington Homes for All, have pushed that scenario as a way to preserve affordable housing at Seminary Pointe. Apartments on the block rent for $400 to $700 a month.

At its May 20 meeting, the CIB also approved short-term extensions for residential and commercial tenants once the county deeds the properties to the CIB. The board’s action offered remaining residential tenants and three commercial tenants lease extensions through Aug. 31, 2026. It also approved shortening the Jeff’s Warehouse lease so it terminates no later than Sept. 30, 2026, instead of Feb. 28, 2027.

Whikehart reported at that meeting that Seminary Pointe includes 35 total units—31 residential and four commercial. Of the residential units, 17 were occupied and 14 were vacant. On the commercial side, Blue Tip Billiards, Friendly Beasts Cidery and My Sister’s Closet had leases expiring in July, while Jeff’s Warehouse had a lease running into 2027.

Preliminary work on the block is also underway. Whikehart said at the May 20 CIB meeting that the CIB has contracted with VET Environmental for an $8,219 environmental study expected by June 29. Two appraisals are also in progress: one by Indianapolis-based Integra for $26,500, due June 29, and one by local firm First Appraisal for $19,500, due June 22.

The next meeting of the CIB is set for June 17.

Whether a land swap deal is reached will depend on the RDC and the CIB. It might not be clear until the third week of July whether there are any realistic prospects for that kind of a deal.

The RDC’s public offering of the College Square site for some kind of development has a due date for responses by July 20. The CIB’s request for proposals for a host hotel on the Seminary Pointe block has a due date of June 30.