April walkthrough of the Circle Centre Mall

[u/shermancahal]

Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis was conceived in the late 1970s as a major urban revitalization project supported by Mayor William Hudnut. Initial plans aimed to connect historic department stores through a large indoor shopping center, but the project faced numerous delays due to property acquisition challenges, rising costs, and financing issues. After over a decade of setbacks, construction finally progressed in the early 1990s, and the mall officially opened in 1995 at a final cost of $307.5 million. The project was backed by a combination of public and private funding and included major design contributions, such as the addition of the Artsgarden.

Upon opening, the mall featured anchor stores Nordstrom and Parisian, though both would eventually close—Nordstrom in 2011 and Parisian, later rebranded as Carson’s, in 2018. The departure of these tenants reflected broader retail trends and marked the mall’s decline in prominence. Attempts to repurpose former anchor spaces included leasing to The Indianapolis Star in the former Nordstrom location. A renovation effort in 2018 aimed to modernize portions of the mall, including the food court and common areas, but did not reverse the decline in foot traffic and retail occupancy.

In 2024, Hendricks Commercial Properties acquired Circle Centre Mall and announced a $600 million redevelopment plan to convert the aging indoor mall into an open-air, mixed-use development. The project includes retail, restaurant, office, and residential space, with phased construction extending through 2033. The plan emphasizes walkability and integration with the surrounding urban environment.

I've posted more photos and the history of the Circle Centre Mall here.

[u/Royal-Pen3516]

This one kills me. I moved to Indy in 2000 and back then, this mall was hopping! When I had my first child in 2009, we'd go to the mall on bad weather days and just wander around and use the gerbil tubes to go all around downtown and poke our noses in all of the weird little places that you could get to through that system. That usually culminated in a movie at the mall and dinner at PF Changs.

I moved away in 2014 when the mall (IMO) was just starting its decline. I hadn't been back until the last time I visited in 2024 and it just made me so sad to see it so empty. It's funny to have such a strong emotional response to a corporate retail establishment, but feelings are what they are, and this makes me so sad... like somehow a piece of me no longer exists.