Emmis Corporation, the company founded by Jeff Smulyan that has all but exited the radio broadcasting industry, has confirmed that commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has been selected to market its corporate headquarters at 40 Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
“Monument Circle has been Emmis’ home since 1998, and I’m proud of what we built, and the people who helped build it,” said Smulyan, the company’s chairman. “As we divested assets, including our local radio stations, we weighed what to do with the building and ultimately decided that it made sense to look for a new owner. We selected Cushman & Wakefield to help us explore that opportunity. When we relocate, Emmis will remain in Indianapolis. It is our home and will always be our home.”
A sale would not immediately impact the building’s current tenants, Star Bank and Urban One, which acquired Emmis’ radio stations in Indianapolis — its last properties Emmis operated. Today, the company’s lone stations are WEPN-FM 98.7, leased to ESPN Radio; and WLIB-AM 1190 in New York, which Emmis has not found a suitable buyer for after several years of shopping the station around.
Emmis’ seven-story, 140,000-square-foot headquarters building is located directly on Monument Circle, the epicenter of Downtown Indianapolis.
Using language suited for a real estate brochure, Emmis shares:
The property offers a contiguous block of 100,000 square feet of Class A office space ideal for a prestigious office headquarter space for owner-users or corporate tenants. With its expansive, three-story atrium, 40 Monument Circle has the potential for tourism-retail and high-end dining as well. The property’s offering also includes a right of first refusal to acquire the adjacent parking garage and air rights over the garage for a potential building expansion.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Rebecca Wells will lead efforts with support from John Crisp and Spud Dick to identify a buyer for the building. The 40 Monument Circle property has a 97 Walk Score and access to more than 440 restaurants and bars, 32 cultural institutions, 14 monuments and memorials and more than 340 acres of park and green space — something those unfamiliar with Indianapolis may be surprised to learn, given its reputation as a city known for auto racing and Lucas Oil.
