Dive Brief:
- Marriott International, alongside Live Nation and investment group Boxcar Development, broke ground on the first Ritz-Carlton hotel in Indianapolis as part of a larger mixed-use redevelopment of the city’s former CSX Building, according to a release from tourism bureau Visit Indy, obtained by Hotel Dive.
- The luxury hotel, to be operated by Sage Hospitality Group, will offer 176 rooms and amenities including 11,500 square feet of meetings and events space, a fitness center and spa, an outdoor terrace, an upscale restaurant, a lobby bar and restaurant and a private lounge for guests.
- The hotel was announced in the midst of more than $3 billion in tourism-related investment in Indianapolis aimed at “elevating the downtown experience for meeting planners and attendees,” including a focus on hotel growth, according to Visit Indy.
Dive Insight:
In addition to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, developers are bringing a 4,000-person live music venue operated by Live Nation to the site, as well as new retail offerings for the entertainment district surrounding the Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena in downtown Indianapolis. The Ritz-Carlton will connect to the arena via a third-floor pedestrian bridge, and the hotel is three blocks away from the Indiana Convention Center, per Visit Indy.
The Ritz-Carlton, among other hotel projects underway, “positions Indy as a more luxury-forward, walkable, and design-driven meetings and bleisure destination,” Visit Indy said in the release. The project was initially slated to include the 170-key Shinola Hotel.
“Introducing The Ritz-Carlton to this development brings a globally recognized standard of luxury hospitality to a project that we are confident will energize downtown and draw visitors to this vibrant destination,” Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said in the release.
The Ritz-Carlton comes as Indianapolis expands its portfolio of high-end hotels, with more than 50% of the downtown hotels planned for the next five years sitting within the luxury or upscale segments, according to Visit Indy, citing CoStar.
The Indiana Convention Center expansion and an 800-room Signia by Hilton hotel are slated to open this fall. The property’s general manager, Kathy Heneghan, told Hotel Dive in July that meeting planners “are incredibly excited to see that there is this level of luxury that’s attached to a convention center.”
Last year, the luxury InterContinental Indianapolis also opened. The Ritz-Carlton Indianapolis is scheduled to open early 2028.
