Precious Lash Long grew up in Oaktree Apartments on the far east side. She lived in an apartment D with her mother and five brothers from 1994 to 2003 and remembered the massive complex as a decent place for children to live. There was a park, a tennis court, fun things for children her age to do.
Long’s family moved out when she was in her early teens to get a bigger apartment for the seven of them, but they didn’t go far. They stayed on the far east side, and Long watched on from nearby as the place she grew up in and loved deteriorated. The grass was knee high. The streets and sidewalks were littered with bottles. More and more buildings went vacant.
“There was no love for the apartments,” Long, 31, said. “… You’d see busted windows. You’d see homeless sleeping in the buildings.”
Even before Long’s family moved, there were signs that things were going downhill at Oaktree. She remembered some people moving out because of an asbestos problem.
Today, Oaktree Apartments — sitting on 19 acres near the intersection of East 42nd Street and Post Road — is empty, aside from whatever animals have turned the abandoned buildings into their homes, and any homeless who take shelter there.
It’s been that way since 2014, when the Marion County Health Department condemned the property and the Marion County Superior Court ordered the remaining 46 tenants to move out after the buildings became unlivable from years of neglect. The city prosecutor filed a public nuisance case against Oaktree Apartments in 2013 because of the hundreds of police runs, incident reports and code violations. A tornado in 2008 destroyed nearly 50 units and damaged another 200, and many of the buildings have been destroyed by fires.
Carmella Wright was living at Oaktree Apartments in 2014 when everyone had to move out. She got a voucher from the city to get another apartment nearby. Wright only lived at Oaktree Apartments for a year but said the complex was more a like a hangout than a place to live. She saw people get shot — weekends were especially bad — and had a dog that would have hopefully protected her if she needed it.
“I know a lot of people don’t care about Oaktree,” Wright, 33, said. “The apartment I lived in is burnt up, so nobody cares about my home.”
Wright and Long both put a lot of the blame on the complex’s owner, Indy Diamond LLC, a London-based company that bought Oaktree Apartments in 2012. The city also blames Indy Diamond LLC, which has been in contempt of court since July 2018, when the county superior court ordered it to obtain wrecking permits and demolish the buildings by Aug. 30, 2018. The company never submitted an application for demolition permits. The Recorder could not find contact information for Indy Diamond LLC.
Michael Howe, CEO of Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE), said the expansive complex with its crumbling buildings is like a sore on the far east side. It’s difficult to see much of the complex from the road because of trees and overgrown brush, but what can be seen from the outside makes it clear nothing should be living there.
“It declines the sense of pride in a neighborhood and makes the residents feel like they’re not worthy of something nice or new,” Howe said.
After years of this being the case, things could be changing. The city of Indianapolis filed suit in Marion County Superior Court in May to acquire Oaktree Apartments through eminent domain. If successful, the city would demolish the buildings. Indy Diamond LLC originally had until June 24 to respond to the lawsuit, but it requested and was granted an extension to June 28. The company hasn’t filed any objections to the complaint.
Emily Mack, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development, said that aside from getting a feel for the real estate market in the area, part of the process of getting something new on the land would include community feedback.
“It’s so important for us to understand those community desires and those community needs and what stakeholders would like to see at that site,” Mack said, noting that using eminent domain for something this big is “very atypical.”
As the leader of a community organization, Howe would likely be involved in gathering that feedback. He said some of the far east side’s needs include senior housing, resources for youth, an affordable and healthy grocery store, retail space and small businesses.
Remembering what her childhood home used to be, Long said she would like to see affordable apartments go there if the city does acquire the land. She wants something “we all can manage and live from.” But Long also knows what doesn’t want.
“Whenever they tear it down,” she said, “I just hope they don’t turn it into another liquor store.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Oaktree Apartments, near the corner of 42nd Street and Post Road on the far east side, has been empty since 2014. The buildings are falling apart, windows are busted out, and doors still open to trashed hallways. The large apartment complex could come under control of the city, which filed suit for eminent domain. (Photo/Tyler Fenwick)
