Bates-Hendricks Pioneers

Bates-Hendricks may not be Indy’s best-kept real-estate secret anymore, but the near-southside neighborhood—where remodelers Two Chicks and a Hammer will film their TV show, forthcoming this spring—continues to have some of the best home values in the city. At the epicenter of the neighborhood’s redevelopment is pretty South New Jersey Street, between Terrace Avenue and Lincoln Street, where sale prices shot up in 2014, according to MIBOR.

Anchored by the landmark Bates-Hendricks House, a brick Italianate mansion listed in the National Register of Historic Landmarks, this stretch of New Jersey features houses with deep setbacks flanking a parkway with a well-manicured esplanade. In 2008, the street got a shot in the arm when the Southeast Neighborhood Development group renovated three houses and made this part of Bates-Hendricks extremely desirable.

“[Buyers] see that there’s something already started. They’re not the first pioneers on the block, and there’s momentum going, so they want to be part of that,” says Joe Giacoletti, a real-estate appraiser who concentrates on downtown and central-city areas.

For proximity to retail and restaurants and nearness to downtown, Bates-Hendricks is a nice alternative for buyers who find themselves priced out of adjacent Fountain Square or who are simply looking for more bang for their buck. Last year, the average cost per square foot in Bates-Hendricks was $54, compared with $105 in Fountain Square, according to MIBOR. Currently, renovations at 1407 and 1411 South New Jersey Street are on the market for more than $120 per square foot. Now that the neighborhood is getting exposure on national TV, that price might still be heading north.