The historic General Electric complex and its contribution to the community began in 1881 with the establishment of the Fort Wayne Electric Company. After meeting with the inventor of one of the earliest variations of arc lighting, local entrepreneur Ranald Macdonald established the Fort Wayne electric company to manufacture and sell the Jenney arc lighting system for Indiana and four other states. Within four years, the Fort Wayne Electric Works had grown from a start-up enterprise to a successful and growing business. By 1892, Fort Wayne Electric caught the eye of and was acquired by the General Electric (GE) company, one of the three largest electrical companies in the country at the time.

Upon taking control of the Fort Wayne Electric Works, General Electric invested heavily in expanding its operations in Fort Wayne. Through World War I and into the heady economic years of the 1920s, the company continued to grow exponentially. The company was at the forefront of the rise of electrical streetcar systems and the leader of electrical consumer appliances. As America electrified, General Electric grew rapidly. By the mid-1940s, the complex supported more than 20,000 employees.

However, through these decades, GE’s national footprint continued to expand and its prioritization of the Fort Wayne location began to diminish. By the 1950s, the Fort Wayne location was no longer the epicenter of GE’s key business. Over the ensuing years, production and employment levels at the Broadway campus dropped consistently and at times significantly as GE shifted production to newer, more efficient factories with cheaper and typically non-union workforces. Thus beginning in the Post-World War II years, the Broadway campus no longer served as a singular symbol of Fort Wayne’s industrial-strength, but rather one of many GE assets to be managed by GE’s corporate headquarters in Schenectady, New York. The company permanently closed the 39-acre complex in 2015 and it was acquired in 2017 for redevelopment by a partnership led by Durham-based Ancora Partners.

The Illinois Building, located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, is a historic office building situated at the heart of the Mile Square business district, which dates back to the city’s founding in 1821. InterContinental Hotel

The Illinois Building was commissioned by the president of what is now Levi Strauss & Company in 1924, who envisioned a “luxurious” office building to replace several smaller structures. Upon its completion in 1926, the building featured modern amenities, such as parking facilities, high-speed elevators, and ice water and toilets on each floor.

The building was designed by the esteemed architectural firm Rubush & Hunter, whose other notable landmarks within Indianapolis include the Masonic Temple, City Hall, Circle Theater, Indiana Theater, and the Stutz Motor Company complex.

Throughout its history, the Illinois Building maintained its purpose as an office building despite changes in ownership through the 1960s and 1970s. A ground lease established during an early transfer complicated future building transfers. In 1988, a local developer purchased the building and invested $16 million in renovations. Despite these efforts, the building became predominantly vacant by the mid-2000s. To encourage interest in its revitalization, Indiana Landmarks listed the Illinois Building on its 10 Most Endangered list in 2006.

The 10-story, 135,004 square foot Illinois Building was transformed into a 170-key full-service luxury InterContinental hotel, featuring two ground-floor restaurants currently occupying the spaces, as well as a 2nd-floor hotel restaurant/bar and a rooftop bar and venue. IHG, which currently manages 6,000 hotels globally, manages this hotel.

The project is sponsored by Keystone Group, a premier Indiana-based developer with decades of and a commitment to creating mixed-use properties that enhance the community in which they’re located. Their headquarters is located four blocks from the project in the historic Majestic Building, which they rehabbed, own, and operate.