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Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v05n01)
Year-end development issues will make impact in 2008 - by Ashley Plummer
posted: Jan. 04, 2008

The previous two meetings of the Broad Ripple Village Association Land Use and Development Committee have proven to be arenas of crucial discussion involving the future of Broad Ripple development.
The first meeting, which took place on November 27, 2007, led the committee to realize that there was much to be heard prior to the new year by the members, so they scheduled a December meeting that took place on the 11th of the month.
Issues that are still at hand from both meetings include two major changes-a brand new building development at 6548 and 6568 North Cornell as well as a make-over for 910 Broad Ripple Avenue, which is currently occupied by the Trophy Shop.
Other items on the agendas for both meetings included the addition of signage at 6335 Guilford Avenue (The Red Room) and a new location for a vintage store that has made its home in the village for years-the Red Rose. Owner Debbie Miller hopes to relocate the shop to 6169 College Ave. and came before the committee asking for a variance in the building's current usage.
However, the main event of both nights revolved around what will happen at 910 Broad Ripple Avenue. The answer was provided by Marc and Eric Fortney, two brothers from Minnesota who will be revamping the entire building and opening a Brothers Bar & Grill restaurant establishment in the building.
The first Brothers Bar & Grill was founded in 1990. If the Fortney brothers can get passed a parking variance required for the building and continue on with current plans, the Broad Ripple location will be the chain's sixteenth Midwest location.
According to the bar's website (www.brothersbar.com), the brothers' ultimate mission is to "provide a comprehensive entertainment venue with an emphasis on fun, safety and cleanliness. . . while striving to lead, not follow, and be better than the day before."
Represented by area lawyer and Misha Rabinowitch, the Fortney brothers provided the committee with a slide show of their bars in numerous other locations to display how they intend to maintain the look and feel of the village area as they have done in almost every other area that they have established their venue.
"We have been coming to Indianapolis for years in an attempt to find a place that we thought would be a good fit for our restaurant," Mark Fortney said. "While we were initially looking downtown, we found that we just kept coming back to Broad Ripple for lunch or some other outing.
"We knew pretty much right away that we wanted to open in Broad Ripple, but there was no property available that seemed to fit."
The brothers explained that they literally went right up to Tom Bardach (owner of the Trophy Shop) and asked him what it would take to buy out his property. After many failed attempts, he gave in.
The Fortney brothers said they are excited to work in Broad Ripple and hope to continue the upwards development of the area, assuming that they get their parking ordinance passed.
There are currently 32 parking spaces that are allocated to the building. However, for the square footage of seating that the restaurant will hold, they need to pass an ordinance allowing them to build without the over 40 more spaces the city requires.
For more information on the Brothers Bar & Grill Restaurant, check out the website listed above. The Fortney brothers hope to move into the trophy shop sometime in mid-2008.
The other big development in store for the Village area stems from the same developer responsible for the new building on Westfield-Victoria Burch. However, this time around, Burch is working together with another area developer, Bert Miller. The two own adjacent properties on the north side of the village (6548 and 6568 North Cornell) and hope to redevelop the two properties in a similar fashion.
The two were represented by Mary E. Solada at both meetings. The development the two are hoping to aim for will consist of office space, possible retail and possible residential. They are seeking a zoning variance that will incorporate all of the above, including a variance for much-needed parking.
The Gazette will continue to follow these two developments as they come into force.


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