Real Estate Trend: The Ups And Downs Of Elevator Ownership

The increasing popularity of aging in place in Indianapolis is giving the home elevator a boost, driving architects and builders to prep more single-family homes for personal-size lifts. No longer an ostentatious status symbol, this growing trend is proving to be a practical future investment in case creaky knees, accidents, or illness make it necessary.
With help from local architects like Mark Demerly, homeowners are designing spaces for an elevator—or just the shaft so a lift can be installed later. “We’ll stack closets on top of one another with floors that can later be easily removed so an elevator can be installed,” says Demerly.
Since 2013, J.W. Moore of DME Elevators and Lifts has seen a tremendous uptick in personal elevators. They used to require mechanics and more complications, making them anything but turnkey. Now, they’re more self-contained and much easier to install. Plus, they require no special permits. According to Moore, a two-stop, fairly basic elevator runs in the neighborhood of $25,000. The price could go all the way up to $60,000 for extra stops and extravagant looks like commercial doors or custom wood paneling. Elevator music is optional.