International Marketplace Coalition

In July 2005, a group of business owners, residents, and volunteers interested in improving the Lafayette Square Area, a largely commercial district located on the northwest side of Indianapolis, formed the Lafayette Square Area Coalition (LSAC). The nonprofit organization focused on the economic growth and development of the International Marketplace District/Lafayette Square Area.

LSAC was organized into five committees—Land Use, Fundraising, Website, Marketing, and Special Events. The LSAC charged the committees with implementing strategies to achieve its defined mission and goals. The organization then held a public meeting in May 2006 to determine the assets, challenges, and potential future directions of the district.

The following year, LSAC’s Land Use Committee asked graduate students from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to conduct a market analysis of the Lafayette Square Area. The organization used this report, which included information on customer demographics, shopping behaviors, and perceptions, to guide future land-use planning.

In July 2010, LSAC published The International Market Place: Lafayette Square Area Plan. This document updated the Lafayette Square Area Plan that the City of Indianapolis developed in 1999.

Importantly, the updated version implemented the term “International Market Place.” LSAC renamed the Lafayette Square Area “International Market Place” to signal how the organization intended to develop, market, and improve the district. Specifically, the group aimed to highlight and encourage the growing and diverse number of ethnic businesses that had opened in the area.

To support this change, Lafayette Square Area Coalition was renamed International Marketplace Coalition (IMC) in 2010. The organization’s mission remained the same: “to promote the revitalization of the Lafayette Square area by creating an environment conducive to sustainable economic development for the benefit of [the] community, the city of Indianapolis, and the region.”

Various projects and initiatives support the International Marketplace Coalition’s mission. For example, the organization hosts a number of special events that highlight the district’s businesses as well as promote cultural exchange, including the Taste the Difference Festival & Sister Cities Fest, International Marketplace Lunch, and Dinner Tours, Savor the International Marketplace, Worlds Arts Expo, Holiday Bazaar & World of Trees, and the International Women’s Gathering. In 2011, the New York Times recognized the neighborhood as a place in Indianapolis where the “world comes to eat.” One can sample food at restaurants “from South America, North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.”

IMC also advocates for new developments in the area. Major projects include the Eskenazi Health Center on West 38^th  Street (opened in 2013), OrthoIndy Foundation YMCA of Greater Indianapolis (opened in 2018), and the relocation and renovation of the Indianapolis Public Library (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library) Eagle Brach (completed in 2019).

The International Marketplace Coalition recently purchased a 56,000-square-foot facility located at 4233 Lafayette Road to transform it into a multipurpose venue featuring conference and event rooms, an audio/video studio, dance studio, demonstration kitchen, and museum.