What the building is
The Gold Building is a 20-story office tower at 151 N. Delaware St. in downtown Indianapolis. IBJ places it on the northern half of the City Market block, inside the boundaries Ohio, Alabama, Market and Delaware streets. OpenStreetMap holds the building as way 339449434, named Market Square Center, at 151 North Delaware Street, postcode 46204.
Gershman Partners and Citimark control the property. The May 2024 source article reports that the two firms acquired the Gold Building and the 251 E. Ohio St. office building in March 2019. IBJ recorded in September 2025 that an $18 million mortgage from Cincinnati-based First Financial Bank allowed the firms to buy the Gold Building and the two buildings directly east of it.
What the conversion changes
IBJ reported on September 17, 2025 that the conversion replaces 400,000 square feet of vacant office space with more than 350 apartments and nearly 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The May 2024 source article counts 354 apartments and about 9,000 square feet of street-level retail. It sets the budget at about $200 million for the conversion and for renovations to the adjacent Ohio Street parking garage.
That article also records a full revamp of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, a share of units reserved for lower-income households as a condition of tax-increment financing, and DKGR as the project architect.
The development agreement carries a shared appreciation clause. The city recoups a portion of its investment if the owners sell inside a set period. IBJ reported in May 2024 that the stipulation was a first for a city development agreement.
The facade
The building facade is golden today. The May 2024 article reports a change to a more subdued silver tone with new window paneling.
Three years of delay in the record
The city announced in June 2022 that it had chosen the Gershman and Citimark proposal for City Market from three finalists. IBJ puts that proposal at $175 million. The other finalists were TWG Development and Flaherty & Collins.
IBJ reported on September 17, 2025 that the firms first proposed the redevelopment in 2022 and have yet to close on financing. An $18 million mortgage behind the 2019 purchase first came due in March 2022. The term was extended multiple times over three years.
Eric Gershman, a partner at Gershman Partners, disputed the account of a foreclosure threat. He told IBJ that the team received multiple twelve-month extensions, that First Financial wanted out, and that the developers never missed a payment.
Three sources told IBJ that the redevelopment nearly fell through in spring 2025. The city and Indianapolis Economic Development Inc. then negotiated a bridge loan.
The 2025 rescue and its terms
The Metropolitan Development Commission approved an $18 million bridge loan on 17 September 2025. The vote was 8-0 with no discussion.
The mechanics are published. The city pays the developers a lump sum which passes to First Financial to satisfy the original mortgage balance. The city then assumes the debt on the project, with legal authority to take the properties if the funding plan falls through.
The conditions are published. The city can withdraw the loan offer if the developers fail to secure construction funding. The developers must meet monthly with their financial partners, the Department of Metropolitan Development and Indianapolis Economic Development Inc. The developers must finalize a construction loan within nine months of securing the bridge loan and repaying their original bank. Failure triggers immediate repayment at 7 percent interest and the surrender of all three buildings on the northern half of the block.
Carmel-based Merchants Bank provides the construction loan. Local developer Milhaus signed on as an equity and development partner.
The public money, and what it replaced
The $18 million loan does not replace the up to $18.8 million in tax-increment-financing bond incentives approved in early 2023 for the whole City Market block redevelopment. It takes the place of a separate $13 million loan approved in 2024 that never materialized. IBJ reports the new loan as funded from the city consolidated downtown TIF district.
The loan is eligible for forgiveness on conditions or on a schedule. IBJ reported that a copy of the forgiveness schedule was not available at publication.
The state committed $10 million in redevelopment tax credits through the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The offer came from the previous administration. The current administration reviewed it, and the review delayed a final commitment. The bridge loan agreement records a further offer of up to $10 million through the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative.
The city withdrew from the west plaza partnership in July 2025 and issued a request for proposals for a new developer in August 2025. DMD later contracted The Hagerman Group for $15.3 million to oversee the plaza renovation. Megan Vukusich gave the reason to IBJ in one line: “We want them focused on the Gold Building.”
The dates that do not exist
No construction start date is published for the conversion. No completion date is published either. Eric Gershman told IBJ in May 2024 that he hoped to finalize terms with the city by the end of summer and to start construction in the early fall of 2024. That window passed.
In September 2025 the developers told the commission they intended to complete their financing by the end of that year.
Two documents will carry the schedule. The first is the construction-loan closing. The second is the leasing schedule.
One count splits as well. IndyStar reported in June 2026 that the conversion covers more than 300 apartments, against more than 350 in the IBJ September 2025 article and 354 in the May 2024 source article. Carry the publisher with the figure.