Monroe County council approves Seminary Pointe land transfer on 6-0-1 vote, as tenants and advocates warn Bloomington is losing what was left of old Bloomington

Staff report

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — April 15, 2026

Monroe County’s plan to transfer the Seminary Pointe block and surrounding downtown property to the Capital Improvement Board cleared its final county hurdle Tuesday night, with the County Council voting 6-0-1 to approve the move, while Council President Jennifer Crossley abstained after voicing concern about what could happen to tenants if a hoped-for land swap with the city falls through.

The vote advances a long-brewing real estate deal tied to the convention center hotel debate, but it also deepens a separate Bloomington story — the steady disappearance of older, cheaper housing and the kind of locally rooted businesses that once gave downtown its character. The properties south of the convention center include 29 residential units, among them Seminary Pointe, where rents have been reported in the $400 to $700 range, along with commercial tenants such as Friendly Beasts Cider Company, My Sister’s Closet and Jeff’s Warehouse. Tenants have been told their leases will not be renewed beyond July 7.

The central question hanging over Tuesday’s meeting was whether the transfer might eventually lead to a land swap. Under that scenario, the CIB would receive the Seminary Pointe block from the county, then try to exchange it with the city for the former Bunger & Robertson property north of the convention center — a site widely viewed as the better location for a host hotel. If that happened, the city would gain control of the Seminary Pointe land, which advocates say could then be used for affordable housing.

But even as that possibility dominated public comment and council discussion, there was no guarantee it would happen.

CIB President John Whikehart told councilors the board could not even begin formal negotiations over a swap unless it first had land to offer. “Without the transfer of the land, then we are not in any negotiating position on the land exchange,” he said during the meeting. “We have no land to exchange.”

At the same time, Whikehart said Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson had informally told him she was “not interested in a land exchange of any kind,” though he added that no formal proposal had yet been made. That squares with Thomson’s public comments in March, when she said the city was “not interested in swapping land.” Separately, the mayor announced in January that the city wanted the College Square, or former Bunger & Robertson, parcel marketed for “economic development uses,” with future possibilities that may include hospitality or hotel development, but not student housing.

That uncertainty appeared to drive Crossley’s abstention.

“We do this, and then it fails, and then we’re back at square one, where [tenants are] stuck with trying to find housing, because they’re done as of July 7,” Crossley said. “That’s a big old gamble that we are taking right now.” She later added, “If we fail in our efforts to do this, then we fail with trying to make sure that folks have affordable housing. And I don’t know if I want that on my conscience.”

Other council members argued that approving the transfer was the only realistic way to keep a swap alive.

Councilor Peter Iversen said the best-case scenario remained clear: “If we can get a host hotel and preserve super affordable housing, that is the optimal outcome. And I think it’s within our reach.” But he said he believed the county itself was no longer the right vehicle to get there. “The reason why I will be voting affirmatively tonight on this ordinance is because I think the best way that we can get to that optimal outcome is by having someone who is not a county commissioner or a county council member working with the city and the county and being able to do that work tomorrow.”

Commissioner Jody Madeira, appearing remotely, urged council not to delay, arguing that postponement risked undermining a project that had already required “substantial planning, substantial negotiation, and substantial investment.” She said moving the property now would provide certainty to project partners and avoid additional costs, even while acknowledging that Seminary Pointe tenants face “very real hardship.”

Public comment, however, was dominated by residents and advocates pleading for council to slow the process down and preserve what they described as some of the last truly affordable housing close to downtown.

One speaker, Hugh Farrell, called the buildings “some of the last affordable housing in downtown” and warned that losing 29 units of what speakers repeatedly described as “super affordable” housing would wipe out much of the progress made in recent years to create similar low-cost units. He also called the buildings themselves “precious,” saying they represented “old Bloomington.”

That sentiment carried beyond housing numbers. For many longtime residents, the block around Seminary Pointe and Friendly Beasts is not just another redevelopment site. It is part of a Bloomington that has been steadily stripped away over the past 15 years as older buildings, cheap rents and offbeat local spaces have given way to more expensive projects and a cityscape that, to many, no longer resembles the place they knew. The older artist studios and warehouse spaces, the businesses that could survive on thinner margins, the weird and locally specific character of downtown Bloomington — all of that has been thinning for years.

In that telling, Seminary Pointe is not an isolated fight. It is part of the same longer arc that saw places like Rhino’s, Rachel’s Cafe, the old Max’s Pizza location and Player’s Pub disappear, while older local businesses such as Ladyman’s on Kirkwood and Roadworthy Guitar also faded into Bloomington history. For many residents, the question raised Tuesday night was larger than one land transfer: What is the point of all this growth and redevelopment if the parts of the city that made Bloomington interesting cannot survive it?

That argument surfaced repeatedly, even when speakers did not put it in exactly those terms. Noah Render warned councilors that if tenants lose their homes, “this is a scandal,” adding, “It will remain your fault. I urge you to actually do something for people who live here and aren’t just a big business trying to bring whatever commerce to this town.”

Another speaker, Jason McCulloch, said the city was being asked to choose between protecting housing and chasing amenities. “We can have both affordable living and the amenities,” he said, “but what comes first?”

For now, the county has made its choice. The land is headed to the CIB. Whether that opens the door to a swap that could preserve affordable housing, or simply clears the way for another piece of old Bloomington to be erased, remains unresolved.

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