What Opens
Indianapolis is rebuilding the west block of Georgia Street as a pedestrian space. The block runs from South Capitol Avenue to South Illinois Street in the Wholesale District, and it fronts the Indiana Convention Center and the new Signia by Hilton.
Visit Indy lists the west block opening for October 2026 on its new-developments page and the full three-block redevelopment for completion by fall 2026 on its construction page. The construction page carries a July 2026 update date.
Merritt Chase, the landscape architecture firm working with the city on the design, reported in February 2025 that construction had begun. The programme holds flexible plaza space, a canopy, new tree planting, lawn and garden areas.
The project costs $9.1 million, per WFYI's report of March 2025.
The Signia and the Expansion
The Indiana Convention Center expansion adds 143,500 square feet, including a 50,000-square-foot ballroom. It connects to the 803-room Signia by Hilton Indianapolis, a 38-storey tower with a top-level bar. Visit Indy lists both for December 2026 at a project cost of $710 million.
The same page lists a Ritz-Carlton fifteen storeys high with 176 rooms and 11,500 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, connected to Gainbridge Fieldhouse by skywalk and three blocks from the convention center.
The Connected Inventory
Visit Indy counts the connected hotel package at 13 properties and 5,500 hotel rooms under one roof once the Signia and the expansion open.
The Indiana Convention Center's own numbers put 7,100 hotel rooms downtown, 4,700 of them connected to the convention center by skywalk. More than half of downtown's rooms sit within blocks of the convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium. The venue counts 200 downtown restaurants within walking distance.
The skywalks lock down at about 11:00 p.m. and reopen at about 6:00 a.m. The venue states both times depend on the event in the building.
What the Space Is For
Visit Indy states the planner-facing purpose on its new-developments page, in these words: a public outdoor space that can be easily activated by convention and meeting planners to extend the footprint of their events to include outdoor space.
That line carries the commercial change for a property on the corridor. Group activity that has stayed inside the convention center can move onto a block that adjoins it. Programming on the street also moves foot traffic past the ground floors of the properties that sit on it.
WFYI reports the street is anchored by Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the convention center, and that the city's aim for the project is a safer, more walkable environment in line with downtown connectivity plans.
Arrival Flow on a Closed Street
Visit Indy's construction page reports Georgia Street between Capitol Avenue and Illinois Street closed to vehicular traffic and to pedestrian traffic in the current phase.
The same page records Capitol Avenue closed from Ohio Street to South Street for through traffic through September 2026, and Illinois Street closed from South Street to Georgia Street. Downtown parking garages are unaffected.
The venue points taxis to the Maryland Street canopy and notes that access there can be restricted during certain events. The skywalk between the Omni Severin Hotel and Circle Centre Mall is permanently closed.
What an Operator Tracks
Three items decide a 2027 operating budget for a property on the corridor. They are the confirmed opening date for the west block, the loading and coach-staging allocation on a street closed to vehicles, and the event calendar for the block's first full season.
The project partners named on the record are the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development and Public Works, the Capital Improvement Board and Indiana Convention Center, Downtown Indy and Visit Indy.