Bottleworks District

Bottleworks is an urban mixed-use development located at the former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in downtown Indianapolis. Since its establishment in 1931, the coca-cola bottling plant has been an iconic landmark in Indianapolis. The lavish, Art Deco building, located at 850 Massachusetts Avenue, was designed by noted Indianapolis architects Rubush And Hunter and built by jungclaus-campbell Company. After multiple expansions in the 1940s and 1950s, the bottling plant became the largest in the world.

The plant remained in service until the 1960s when Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman bought the franchise and moved operations to Speedway. For several years, the plant was used to store Hulman’s collection of vintage automobiles. In 1968, Hulman sold the plant to the Indianapolis Public Schools, which used it as a central kitchen for school lunches, storage, classrooms, and garages for school buses.

By 2017, the Coca-Cola bottling plant was in a massive state of disrepair. Seeing the potential of the once beautiful building and its 12 urban acres, Wisconsin-based Hendricks Commercial Properties began to redevelop the site into the Bottleworks District. The $300 million project transformed the Coca-Cola bottling plant into a mixed-use district celebrating commerce, history, and art while preserving the character and original features of the building.

The project took place over multiple phases. Construction for the first phase, which included a food hall and market complex, a boutique hotel, and entertainment venues, began mid-2018 and finished at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021. The second phase involved the construction of 175,000 square feet of retail and 180,000 square feet of office space. Phase three and four were the addition of residential space including 175 apartments and 30 condos.

On December 15, 2020, the Bottleworks Hotel officially opened. The 139-room hotel was located on the top two floors of the former Coca-cola administrative building and featured event space, a central atrium, and a restaurant and bar. The food hall, named The Garage for its location in the bottling plants’ original garages, opened at the beginning of 2021. The 500-seat food hall hosted 25 vendors featuring every style of food and drink from burgers and pizza to oysters and lobster.