INDIANAPOLIS - The future of the east side of Georgia Street in downtown Indy is the end of the longtime vacant CSX Building. The corner of Pennsylvania and Georgia Street will soon be home to the Shinola Hotel, a luxury hotel with 170 rooms. Boxcar Developments LLC, owned by the Simon family, will also build a live music venue with enough room for 4,000 people. A sky bridge will connect the new hotel to Gainbridge Fieldhouse across the street. Gov.-elect Braun releases full ‘freedom and opportunity’ agenda for upcoming term https://twitter.com/ReporterEric/status/1864081028270207291 Melody Park, the owner's representative with Boxcar, said they're grateful for the city's support on the project and they plan to begin demolition this month with plans to open the hotel in Fall 2027. The Shinola is far from the only project. On the other end of Georgia Street, the Signia by Hilton is well underway. The project went vertical last year and is planned to open by Fall 2026. The headquarters hotel will have 800 rooms and expand the Indiana Convention Center to which it will be connected. https://twitter.com/ReporterEric/status/1864081030887428240 "With more hotel properties in the city, we will be able to host two city-wide conventions at once," said Clare Clark with Visit Indy. "So, it really does expand the opportunities for the business side of Indianapolis." Clark said Visit Indy found themselves with growing conventions but didn't have the room. Tabletop gaming convention GenCon is the best example. It had more than 70,000 attendees this year but leaders felt there needed to be more space for Indy to continue to be its home. ”We see a lot of our annual conventions, like GenCon recommit, for years well beyond 2030," Clark said. The closest new hotel to opening its doors in downtown Indy is the InterContinental Hotel in the former Illinois Building just off Monument Circle. It's slated to open early next year with 170 rooms. "Keystone Group has made a $110 million investment in this property and downtown Indianapolis as tourism, convention business and Indy’s community and culture skyrocket. We are proud to be bringing the first luxury hotel offering in nearly two decades to a city that deserves well-thought-out and high-quality development," said developer Ersal Ozdemir, the owner of Keystone Group. Another longtime downtown Indy building will also be getting a hotel makeover. The Kimpton Hotel will be at the corner of Pennsylvania and Washington in the historic Odds Fellows building. The $85 million project will have a rooftop bar and is slated to open in 2026. One of the most unique projects is at the Old City Hall. The 21C Museum Hotel will have 150 rooms and a public art gallery with a 32-story hotel. The project is estimated to cost $264 million. Clark said this is hotel diversity that Indianapolis needs. ”Traditionally, we have been a Marriott-dominated city and so as you see the Signia by Hilton come online and the diversity of our hotels expand, we'll be able to market and attract new convention customers and leisure customers," Clark said. With at least 1,400 new hotel rooms opening between now and 2028 in downtown Indy, we asked if there's such thing as too many hotel rooms in the city. Federal loan would finance EV battery plants in Kokomo ”We're trying to find that sweet spot," Clark said. "Because we want to be able to welcome two city-wide conventions at once, but we don't want there to be an overabundance of hotel rooms." Clark said it's part of Visit Indy's job to help the hotels around the city fill rooms, and they've seen an appetite to grow current conventions and add more to the calendar. ”We want there to be that density and that need to secure a hotel room, but we also want to release some of the stress of coming into a city for an event and hotels are already booked up," Clark said. Current Indianapolis hotels are also working to compete with their soon-to-be new neighbors. The Omni Severin Hotel just finished a $24 million renovation, the JW Marriott is in a $15 million renovation, the Crowne Plaza is doing $15 million in renovations and the Hampton Inn and the Alexander have both also begun renovation projects.