Seminary Pointe tenants get more time as Bloomington Convention Center host hotel moves ahead

Some properties south of the Bloomington Convention Center, which were recently transferred to Monroe County’s capital improvement board (CIB) by Monroe County government, received attention from the CIB on two fronts on Wednesday (May 20).

One action by the CIB extended time for current tenants of the Seminary Pointe block, both residential and commercial, to remain in place a short while. The other action included an update on completing preliminary work needed to clear the parcels for demolition, and then redevelopment as a host hotel for the expanded convention center. The CIB also authorized applications for demolition permits.

Those actions came as activists are still holding out hope and are working towards a different scenario, involving a land swap. A group called Bloomington Homes for All has sent the CIB and other key decision makers a memo outlining elements of the plan.

Development of the properties as a host hotel is not the outcome CIB would prefer. Like the housing advocates, the CIB would also like to swap the block to Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC)—in exchange for the College Square lot north of the convention center. In that scenario, a host hotel could be developed at College Square, and the Seminary Pointe block could be renovated or redeveloped to preserve affordable housing there. Seminary Pointe apartments rent for $400 to $700 a month.

The indirect path to ownership by the RDC is driven by the fact that the property was originally purchased in 2010 with proceeds from the innkeeper’s tax, which requires that Seminary Pointe ultimately be put to use in support of tourism—which it would be, if it were used to acquire real estate like College Square for use as a host hotel.

But the RDC recently declined a request from the CIB to hold off for 30 days on making a public offering of College Square, so a land swap could be negotiated. That means the CIB is forging ahead with a new RFP for a host hotel to be located on the Seminary Pointe block

Seminary Pointe: Prep for redevelopment as host hotel

At Wednesday’s meeting, CIB president John Whikehart opened his report by outlining appraisal and environmental contracts previously authorized by the board for the Seminary Pointe block, saying the work should be finished by the end of June. He said the board has contracted with VET Environmental, a local firm, for an $8,219 environmental study scheduled for completion by June 29. Two appraisal contracts are also underway: one with Integra, an Indianapolis firm, for $26,500, and one with First Appraisal, a local group, for $19,500, with completion dates of June 29 and June 22, respectively.

Whikehart noted the roughly $7,000 difference in price reflects the fact that First Appraisal did an earlier appraisal of the real estate, so the current work is just an update. The board had given him the authority to move ahead with the environmental work and the appraisals at its April meeting, and that work is now expected to be finished by the end of June, Whikehart told the board.

Seminary Pointe: Current status of tenants

Later in Wednesday’s CIB meeting, Whikehart turned to another facet of the properties that were authorized to be transferred from Monroe County government to the CIB in mid-April. Whikehart said he expected the actual deeds would be transferred by June 1.

Based on information from the property management company, PMI Indianapolis, Whikehart reported that there are 35 total units—31 residential and four commercial. Of the 31 residential units, he said, 14 are vacant and unrented and 17 are occupied. Three of those 17 residents have notified the landlord of their intent to move out. Another three are delinquent on rent, and one of those three has been given an eviction notice, Whikehart said. One occupied unit has been without a formal lease since Dec. 31, 2025 and is treated as a month‑to‑month tenancy. That leaves 10 residents, Whikehart said, who have current leases.

Whikehart outlined what he described as coordinated efforts to work with tenants to find someplace else to live. He said the Monroe County Renters Association has held four open houses for tenants to review other apartment options. Some other apartment complexes have agreed to waive credit checks for any residents who are interested.

Residents have been told that if they terminate their leases early they’ll be released from their leases, and their damage deposits will be returned to them, Whikehart said. In addition, he told the board that local mover Two Men and a Truck has offered to move any residents free of charge from their current location to a new place.

On the commercial side, Whikehart said there are four tenants. Three of them have leases that expire in July: Blue Tip Billiards, Friendly Beasts Cidery, and My Sister’s Closet. The fourth, Jeff’s Warehouse, has a lease that currently runs through Feb. 28, 2027. Whikehart said the owner of Jeff’s Warehouse has agreed to revise that lease with a termination no later than Sept. 30 of 2026. That’s possible because he has found a new location.

Blue Tip Billiards, Whikehart reported, has also found a new location, effective June 1, though details are still being worked out.

Friendly Beasts has also located a new space, but Whikehart said the owner has pointed out a complication: Moving in June would force a change in the business’s liquor license and require reapplication, which would likely mean missing August events such as Taste of Bloomington and Pridefest. He characterized those events as “an important part of their business relationship,” and said the business has requested permission to stay through the month of August to avoid losing that summer revenue.

My Sister’s Closet, he said, has asked for an extension of “indefinite” length while it works on relocation. Whikehart noted that the nonprofit’s rent has been waived since April 2025 and waived rent totals $52,500, which he called the Monroe County government’s “donation” to My Sister’s Closet to help them with their relocation expenses. Extending the lease to My Sister’s Closet through Aug. 31, while continuing to waive rent, would make for a total contribution of $65,400 to My Sister’s Closet to assist in their relocation, Whikehart said.

Seminary Pointe: CIB action on leases, demolition permits

In broad strokes, the CIB’s action on Wednesday was to offer the remaining residential tenants and three commercial tenants on the south parcels optional lease extensions through August 31, 2026, once the county deeds the properties to the CIB. It also approved shortening the Jeff’s Warehouse’s lease to terminate no later than Sept. 30, 2026, instead of Feb. 28, 2027.

Immediately after the lease discussion, the board adopted a resolution authorizing Whikehart, as CIB president, to carry out the demolition permitting process. CIB board member Doug Bruce pressed for clarity on timing. Whikehart said that obtaining a demolition permit would not mean an immediate move to demolish buildings: “The fact that we have the permit doesn’t mean that the instant we get the permit, we would move to remove the buildings,” he said.

From the public mic

During public comment, Bloomington Homes for All representative Bryce Greene thanked the board for extending the leases, calling it “a vote of confidence to some extent” that his group could help the CIB eventually work out something with the Bloomington RDC that would achieve a land swap. He described it as a scenario that “seems to be workable from all sides.” Greene urged the CIB to “make public statements in support of it, and help push this through in private.”

Bloomington city councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith, speaking from a remote Microsoft Teams connection, also backed the Bloomington Homes for All proposal. She questioned whether a hotel operator would need the entire College Square block for a convention center host hotel. She suggested the CIB consider swapping the Seminary Pointe block, which she thinks will likely appraise at a lower value than College Square, for only part of the College Square block, rather than all of it.