As Anthem invests $20M in Indianapolis, it wants closer parking spaces for executives

June 07--Now that Anthem Inc. is keeping its headquarters in Indianapolis, the health insurance giant wants a new amenity: close parking spots for executives.

Anthem is seeking permission to remove green space and add a surface parking lot near the entrance of its 220 Virginia Ave. complex, which sits just outside Fletcher Place and across the street from the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

Indianapolis zoning rules prohibit new surface lots on commercial properties within the Mile Square. The Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals will consider Anthem's request for a variance, likely in July.

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Anthem's effort to pave over an area that mostly consists of grass, shrubs and flowers comes less than a month after the company said it would invest $20 million in its Virginia Avenue headquarters. The site will hold 2,600 employees after Anthem moves out of its Monument Circle offices at the end of the year.

Anthem's recent announcement soothed concerns that it was considering a move to Atlanta, where the company is building a $150 million, 21-story tower. But the parking lot request is provoking the ire of area residents, who say parking lots are not a good use for urban space.

"Part of the reason people live in Fletcher Place is they don't want to drive places," said Andy Howard, the president of the Fletcher Place Neighborhood Association, which has not yet taken an official position on the issue. "They don't want to see more cars cutting across parking lots."

Howard said he'd prefer to see Anthem build a garage with ground-floor retail at the site if the company needs more parking.

"There's obviously some demand for food in that area," Howard said. "It seems like if they were to put a parking garage wrapped with some kind of mixed-use construction, that would be a much better use."

Anthem did not respond to requests for comment, but made a case for the parking lot in documents submitted to the city.

"The parking lot is needed for parking (for) Anthem executives who are relocating to the existing office building," Anthem said. "The existing parking lot north of the office building is currently at capacity."

Anthem did not specify how many parking spaces it needs, but said they would be "fenced in and gated" and come with a new sidewalk and lighting. Anthem also noted that it has planned to add surface parking in front of the complex since it was developed in 1999.

The city's Department of Metropolitan Development has not yet made a recommendation on the parking lot. Emily Mack, the director of the department, was traveling this week and unavailable for comment.

Jeff Miller, a City-County Council Republican whose district includes the Anthem headquarters, said a surface parking lot would make it harder to link Downtown to Fletcher Place.

"The fact that they're wanting to put a parking lot in a section that's already a dead zone, in my opinion, is not something that needs to be happening," Miller said. "I'd like to have a better connection with that leg of the Cultural Trail that goes down Virginia and goes Downtown."

Miller said Anthem needs to "show hardship" that it would face without the parking lot.

"Too often it gets turned around so remonstrators have to come up with a rock-solid argument against a petition, when the reality is the petitioner has a responsibility to explain why the law should be changed in their favor," Miller said. "That's my general argument on all the zoning cases."

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.

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