In a Nutshell
What: To inform its decision about whether to acquire the facility where it had been a long-term tenant, Community Action of Greater Indianapolis engaged IFF’s Real Estate Solutions team to conduct a facility and energy assessment to determine deferred maintenance needs, the level of investment required to upgrade the building, and opportunities to improve energy efficiency and install a rooftop photovoltaic system to leverage solar power.
Sectors: Housing, Early Childhood Education, Workforce Development, Youth Services, Community Development
Location: Indianapolis, IN
IFF Support: Site search (2021) and facility and energy assessment (2024)
IFF Staff Leads: Donna Sink, director of Real Estate Solutions – Indiana; Ian Loera, owner’s representative
For nearly 60 years, Community Action of Greater Indianapolis (CAGI) has worked to eradicate poverty in Central Indiana by tackling its root causes, focusing on providing resources, tools, and support that address hunger, housing, education, employment, and more. While designed to meet clients’ basic needs, the underlying goal of all of the nonprofit’s programming is to help residents in its five-county service area achieve self-reliance and self-sufficiency, with little need to continue accessing the organization’s services long-term.
It’s fitting, then, that earlier this year CAGI took a major step toward its own self-sufficiency with the purchase of the facility that has long served as its corporate headquarters and a hub for much of its programming. By acquiring the 104,000-square-foot building where it had leased space since 2011, CAGI will be able to expand its programs, secure new revenue by leasing space in the building to other organizations, grow net assets, and more directly shape community development efforts in the Crown Hill neighborhood where it’s located.
“We purchased the building at auction for $550,000 and, while there are new costs we’re responsible for as the owner, we were spending upwards of $330,000 per year to lease our space,” says Terrence White, CAGI’s executive director/CEO. “There was a clear benefit to the organization in being able to invest the money we’ll save on facility costs in our mission-driven work, and we’re excited about some of the new ideas we’re able to pursue now that we own the property.”
Most immediately, CAGI is focused on addressing deferred maintenance issues identified in a facility assessment conducted by IFF’s Real Estate Solutions team that helped inform the organization’s decision to acquire the building. IFF previously supported CAGI with a site search for a new location before the nonprofit was presented with the opportunity to acquire its facility and reengaged IFF to help assess its options before committing to the purchase. Providing a detailed analysis of the building’s condition, rough estimates of the costs CAGI would likely incur to remediate issues, and opportunities to put the property to more productive use, the assessment provided the organization with a list of projects broken out by complexity and potential cost to guide CAGI’s decision-making about facility improvements to prioritize.
“Working with IFF helped us to identify what we’d need to do to stabilize the building and what that was likely to cost, as well as to better visualize the opportunities to realize the true potential of the property,” says White. “We’d never been in a position to own a commercial building of this size, and it was really helpful to know exactly what we were getting into and to get recommendations about how to prioritize our work on the building moving forward. Overall, the partnership with IFF gave us the opportunity to make better, more sound decisions.”
“Working with IFF helped us to identify what we’d need to do to stabilize the building and what that was likely to cost, as well as to better visualize the opportunities to realize the true potential of the property.”
After addressing immediate maintenance needs, CAGI will turn its attention to more aspirational building upgrades designed to expand its programs and attract new tenants to the building to strengthen the organization’s financial position. Among the plans CAGI is considering are renovations to the 10-story tower to create a dedicated floor for the organization’s health and wellness programming, which includes disease prevention services, behavioral health counseling, and health insurance navigation. To build out the offerings available to clients, CAGI is also considering adding new exam rooms and setting aside space for community health providers to operate satellite locations to supplement CAGI programming.
Another potential upgrade the nonprofit is exploring is the addition of a computer lab and new classrooms, both of which would help to expand the capacity of the organization’s financial literacy, homeownership education, workforce development, family development, and after school programs. Longer term, CAGI hopes to redevelop a portion of the property where an aging parking garage is currently located to better meet community needs. Though a preliminary idea only, after the parking garage is demolished, one option CAGI has considered is the development of affordable housing, which would add to a portfolio owned and managed by CAGI that currently includes 350 rental units that cater to older adults and residents with disabilities.
“Investing in better energy efficiency is going to make our program delivery more efficient, too, by limiting our operating costs, and it’s an opportunity to practice what we preach and demonstrate the benefits to those we work with.”
As part of the facility assessment, IFF also examined the potential to improve energy efficiency in the building and reduce operating costs to ensure that as much of CAGI’s budget as possible can be devoted to its long-term plans for the property. To accomplish this, the team surveyed the facility’s HVAC systems, lighting, water heaters, insulation, window and door efficiency, and appliance efficiency; analyzed utility bills to determine energy utilization; and identified energy cost reduction measures the organization could implement after assuming ownership of the facility.
Emerging from this analysis was the opportunity for CAGI to install a rooftop photovoltaic system to leverage solar power, which could result in average savings of more than $1,700 per month for the facility’s electric bill in the 15 years after the system is installed. While the installation costs associated with solar arrays can be significant, extensive government incentives and grant programs are available to subsidize the cost and help mission-driven organizations like CAGI achieve long-term cost savings. Also identified were opportunities to improve weatherization to curb energy loss by replacing windows original to the facility with double-paned glass and adding insulation to exterior walls. With CAGI facilitating similar weatherization upgrades for its own clients at their homes, these opportunities presented the organization with a unique opportunity to model the benefits in its own facility.
“Many people don’t realize the benefit of weatherization to conserve energy, which is something we promote heavily in our day-to-day work,” says White. “Investing in better energy efficiency is going to make our program delivery more efficient, too, by limiting our operating costs, and it’s an opportunity to practice what we preach and demonstrate the benefits to those we work with. We’re looking forward to finalizing our plans and getting started with a capital campaign to take advantage of the new opportunities available to us in the building.”
Tags: : Community Development, Housing, Real Estate Solutions, Sustainability, Workforce Development, Youth Services