The City of Indianapolis will soon begin construction on a green infrastructure pilot project to improve water quality in Fall Creek. This project, the first of its kind for the city, will use native plants, soil, stone and other natural elements to filter pollutants from storm water before releasing it into Fall Creek. The project also will serve as a model for future green infrastructure projects in Indianapolis.

Green infrastructure helps manage, transport and treat storm water runoff through either the use of natural systems or engineered systems that mimic natural systems. The primary goals are to capture, cleanse and slowly release storm water into rivers and streams.

For this project, the Department of Public Works (DPW) will partially separate combined sewers and redirect storm water to a bioretention cell for treatment. A bioretention cell, similar to a rain garden, is a landscaped area designed to cleanse storm water and remove pollutants.

Project Fact Sheet

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From the Indianapolis Business Journal

Federal authorities have filed mortgage fraud charges against seven local residents, including the owner of Charter Homes, the subject of an IBJ investigation last year.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana today charged Jerry J. Jaquess and six others with crimes connected with 149 fraudulent loan transactions totaling $19.7 million between 2003 and 2005.

The charges follow an investigation by special agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI.

Mark Roth, Timothy A. Brown and Jaquess have been charged with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. Tamara E. Scott, Donald T. Brown, Stephen Scott Brown, and Aaron J. Warren face conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money-laundering charges.

The first three defendants could face 30 years in jail and $1 million in fines each. The last four face a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and fines of $1 million each.

Of the fraudulent loans, 52 were for homes listed by their owners. The other 97 relate to the sale of duplexes in the Charter-managed Windsor Village neighborhood near Arlington Avenue and 21st Street.

Scheme participants bought the homes for $50,000 each, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Then, with the help of inflated appraisals, they recruited investors to take out $96,000 loans to purchase the homes for $120,000 each. Lenders included Argent Mortgage and an affiliate of Countrywide Home Loans.

No payments were made on the mortgages and the lenders lost the entire loan amounts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Many of the duplexes were later resold for between $3,500 and $15,000.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Jaquess used another of his companies, Homevestors LLC, to negotiate the purchase and sale of the first 11 properties in Windsor Village. He listed three of the properties as having sold for $120,000 each on the Multiple Listing Service, allowing the sales to be considered as comparable on appraisals of the remaining properties.

After each closing, Homevestors issued a check of about $42,000 to Jaquess personally or to a family member, a check to the person “fronting” the down payments and a $4,000 check to the investor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office statement does not mention other Charter neighborhoods, including downtown’s King Park, Fishers Creek on the east side and The Reserve at Royal Oaks in Greenwood. But current and former Charter business partners who spoke to IBJ for stories in August and October 2008 described a similar scheme in which the company recruited and paid buyers to take out inflated mortgages on homes it built, promising to manage the properties as rentals and make payments for the owners.

FULL STORY

Related Blog Post

From Indianapolis Business Journal

A pair of Carmel-based investors are planning to redevelop a three-story historic apartment building into upscale, high-tech condominiums at the corner of 22nd and Delaware streets downtown.

The structure, dubbed the "Smart Building at Delaware," will contain 12 one-bedroom, one-bathroom condominiums priced between $119,900 and $164,900.

Developers say the relatively low price point, combined with the building's enhanced design and technology, should attract buyers, despite the challenges plaguing the local condominium market.

"People have been coming downtown and saying everything's too expensive," said John Karamanski, the agent marketing the property. "We're going to provide high-tech, high-quality, affordable luxury."

Full Article

From IBJ Property Lines

A Kentucky-based developer is proposing to develop a two-tenant, 3,200 square foot retail building on the southeast corner of 22nd/Delaware, currently a vacant lot.  Revised plans call for the building to be built on the corner up to the sidewalk, with parking beside and behind the structure.  The building will be built of brick up to the top of the windows.  IBJ has a rendering of the original proposal.

The project does not require rezoning, but does require Regional Center design review (which prompted some of the revisions).