Lock And Leave

Kim and Jim Robertson anticipated the sacrifices when they left Brendonwood and downsized to a brand-new three-bedroom apartment as a transition to exploring buying downtown. Jim would miss the golf course in their gated community and the beauty after a snow. They wouldn’t host dinner parties in their eat-in kitchen. Luckily, nice surprises have outweighed the losses.

They recently left for a month, hassle-free. “It was nice to just lock and leave,” Kim says of their sunny pad at The Whit, which opened last May. When they returned home to an empty refrigerator, they walked one block to Mass Ave for dinner. The mailroom has recycling, so junk mail doesn’t even make it upstairs. And Jim didn’t have to shovel snow this year.

The couple still enjoyed lovely winter scenery. Their apartment overlooks University Park, offering a view of an entirely green block from their large balcony. With buildings across the park, it still feels urban—apartments along the Indiana War Memorial Plaza are Indy’s equivalent of Central Park West in New York City. The Whit is removed just enough from Mass Ave to feel peaceful. “It’s like we have the city to ourselves on Saturday mornings,” says Kim, who teaches English at IUPUI. “It’s so still.”

Yet The Whit is centrally located, and it’s in a rarefied class with 360 Market Square in terms of quality and size, though neither lets residents spread out. The Robertsons’ living space is contained to an open-concept kitchen and living room big enough for a sofa and loveseat. On one side of the common area, the master bedroom feels like a plush hotel suite. Two guest bedrooms and a second bathroom sit across the apartment. Building amenities include a dog park, a huge dog-washing room, a gym with classes-on-demand technology, office space, a cashless 24-hour pantry, a rooftop pool, and a keyless video entry system. An arcade bar is set to open on the street level this year. The parking garage is a schlep, but with so many restaurants nearby and little space to put purchases, it’s not often the couple has bags to carry in. Kim can find her favorite Yerba Mate drink in the pantry—management offered to stock it.

Do you hear your neighbors? Never. Where is all of your stuff? Mostly in storage off site. We call a deep living-room closet our garage because that’s where our tools and tennis rackets go. What items do you miss? Our large dining-room table, china, and glassware. It’s all in storage. Best thing about apartment living? If we have a problem, we don’t have to get estimates. It’s nice to just pick up the phone and have it fixed.