The pros of the Indiana commercial real estate industry celebrated the best in the business during the 10th annual Indianapolis Commercial Real Estate Summit and Indiana Real Estate Awards ceremony held by Midwest Real Estate News April 8 at the city’s Columbia Club.
During the summit portion of the event, the top names in Indiana’s commercial real estate sector spoke on the performance of the multifamily, office, industrial, retail and healthcare sectors in the Indianapolis area. And the consensus? The overall commercial market is strong and stable in Indianapolis, thanks partly because developers here never overbuilt.
The summit focused, too, on the biggest commercial development projects taking place or planned for Indianapolis and its suburbs, including the new hospital campus being developed by IU Health in downtown Indianapolis. Panelists spoke, too, about the increasing number of office conversion projects, including the transformation of outdated office properties in downtown Indianapolis to hotels and multifamily developments.
The event concluded with the Indiana Commercial Real Estate Awards presentation, honoring the real estate professionals who closed the biggest deals, best served their customers and made the biggest impact on the industry.
For a full list of the event’s finalists and award winners, click this link.

The summit kicked off with the keynote speaker, Megan Vukusich, Director of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, who spoke about the city’s bright future and upcoming development work.

The summit’s opening panel, the Multifamily Apartment Market Update & Forecast: Opportunities & Challenges, session focused on the steady, reliable nature of the Indianapolis area’s apartment market. Speaking about this strong sector were David Adams, Partner, Krieg DeVault LLP, who served as moderator; Ross Wettersten, Associate Director, Walker & Dunlop; Drew Musser, Vice President, KeyBank Real Estate Capital; Alex Blagojevich, Founding Partner and Executive Managing Director, MMG Real Estate Advisors; Drew Rosenbarger, VP of Development, Milhaus; and Chris Reckley, Vice President of Acquisitions, Flaherty & Collins.

The summit’s second session, the Indianapolis Market Sector Update – Industrial, Office, Retail, Finance, Investment, Healthcare, included Jonathan Hardy, Executive Vice President, Premier Commercial Real Estate Services; Alfredo Gutierrez, Founder, SparrowHawk; Jimmy Clark, Vice President, Development, Cornerstone Companies; Laura Haynes, VP of Commercial Lending, Stock Yards Bank & Trust; and Keith Stark, CEO/Founder, ACTIVUSRE. Not pictured is Cameron Starnes, Partner, Taft, the session’s moderator.

The Transforming Downtown and Suburban Markets Development–Game Changer Projects panel wrapped up the summit portion of the event. Speaking on this panel were Lance Evinger, Vice President – Acquisitions & Dispositions, Hendricks Commercial Properties; Michael Taft, Development Director, 1820 Ventures; Daniel Phair, Partner, Senior Vice President, Holladay Properties; and Thomas Hanahan, Partner, Taft, the session’s moderator.
