Developer J. Greg Allen Constructs Southside Style

J. Greg Allen at Greenbrooke Medical Park
12 SOUTH | SUMMER 2007
story by Joe Skeel photos by Susan Fleck
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“We’ve had a vision to bring some scale and architecture to Greenwood that
we feel belongs here. It’s a great community. All of Johnson County, for that
matter, but particularly Greenwood and Center Grove are communities with
a great sense of pride. You can see that in their youth programs … in their
schools and their commitment to facilities. This is a community of people
that appreciate doing things in a first-class way.”
— J. Greg Allen
14 SOUTH | SUMMER 2007
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remembers vividly the hours spent sitting in the backseat of his father’s Chrysler 300.
During his childhood, the family often would drive from their southside Indianapolis home
to look at new houses in Greenwood.
After all, a man’s home is his castle. And
family after family in the 1960s and ’70s
searched for their own small kingdom in
northern Johnson County. Allen’s parents
were among them.
“It was an earmark of success to move to
Greenwood and Center Grove and some of
these communities that were starting to dot
the map,” said Allen, one of the southside’s
premier builders.
His family settled at 1111 Forrest Park
Drive, just off of Madison Avenue across
from Greenwood Park Mall, when Allen
was in the eighth grade.
Just five years later, about a year after
graduating from Greenwood high school,
Allen would embark on an unexpected
journey that has given hundreds of people
like his parents their own castle.
But more than that, he has been
instrumental in raising the standard of
living for all Johnson County residents.
His custom-home communities, such
as Eagle Trace and Highland Park, are
ground-breaking in central Indiana, and his
commercial projects have attracted some of
the most widely known upscale names in
the retail and restaurant industry.
Whether or not area residents can
afford the million-dollar homes he builds,
they most certainly enjoy the benefits of his
work.
Without Allen’s vision, there might not
be Bonefish Grill, Melting Pot or Stein Mart,
not to mention the other retail shops and
restaurants that have followed the upscale
housing boom in White River Township.
On the east side of town, Allen’s 260 acres
surrounding the Interstate 65 at County
Line Road interchange is quickly becoming
“It was an earmark
of success to move to
Greenwood and Center
Grove and some of
these communities that
were starting to dot the
map. ”
— J. Greg Allen
Emerson Pointe, Greenwood
SUMMER 2007 | SOUTH
15
Greenbrooke Medical Park
16 SOUTH | SUMMER 2007
an extension of Allen’s Class A facilities in
White River Township. BGI Fitness, Bicycle
Garage Indy and the Indiana American
Office Park near the Greenwood airport
are just the beginning.
“We’ve had a vision to bring some scale
and architecture to Greenwood that we
feel belongs here,” Allen said. “It’s a great
community. All of Johnson County, for that
matter, but particularly Greenwood and
Center Grove are communities with a great
sense of pride. You can see that in their
youth programs … in their schools and their
commitment to facilities.
“This is a community of people that
appreciate doing things in a first-class
way.”
UNEXPECTED BEGINNING
Allen learned about being an
entrepreneur at a young age. As a high
school student, he worked at his father’s
appliance stores, one near Garfield Park
and the other on State Road 135.
By the time he graduated from high
school, he felt confident enough to build
his own home. He was 19. The plan was
to live in the White River Township home
and continue to drive a service truck for his
father’s appliance business.
But less than a year after building his
house, and seeing its value increase, he
decided to sell it. One couple who was
interested in the home lost out because they
couldn’t sell their own house fast enough.
So, they approached him to build
another. Allen balked at the idea because
he didn’t understand the paper side of the
business.
“I didn’t consider myself a builder,” Allen
said. “A lot of people step out on their own
and build a house. And that’s what I did.”
Undeterred, the couple obtained a real
estate agent who was a mutual friend of
Allen and the couple. She agreed to handle
all the paperwork if he would build the
home. So, he did.
Before it was over, he built a home for
the real estate agent as well. He was still in
his early 20s.
“(The agent) kind of pushed me into
it,” Allen said. “All of the sudden, I was a
builder.”
While in high school, Allen thought he
might someday be a builder. He assumed
he would get a job working for someone
else while he learned the business. But the
southside building boom of the 1970s and
'80s wouldn’t allow it.
“I couldn’t get out of the way of it. We
treated people right and built a quality
product. It just took off,” Allen said. “It
was a train coming at you if you handled
“We treated people right and built
a quality product. It just took off. It was a train coming at you
if you handled business correctly, just because of the popularity
of the southside.” — J. Greg Allen
SUMMER 2007 | SOUTH
17
J. Greg Allen with son, Greg W. Allen
18 SOUTH | SUMMER 2007
business correctly, just because of the
popularity of the southside.”
Allen continued to perfect his craft and
eventually earned enough respect to build
in upscale communities such as Pebble
Hills.
“We were the younger guys at these
people’s feet; wanting to get into their
subdivisions,” Allen said. “I remember
thinking it was like a dream: ‘Wow, I’m
building in Pebble Hills.’”
As his reputation and aspirations
grew, so did his business. He went from
constructing single-family homes in other
subdivisions to starting his own housing
communities: His first was Eagle’s Landing
on the south side of Stones Crossing
Road; others soon followed. Today, he has
built more than 30 housing communities,
about 90 percent of which are south of
Indianapolis.
“Greg was one of the few pioneers on
the southside who really took the idea of
large, custom subdivisions into the realm
of marketing them in a way they weren’t
marketed in the past,” said Steve Lains,
CEO of the Builders Association of Greater
Indianapolis.
DIVERSIFYING BUSINESS
While going full-bore in his custom
housing business, Allen attended a seminar
in the mid-1980s that inspired him to give
commercial development a try. His first
project was Library Park, located just north
of Smith Valley Road on State Road 135.
He quickly found a niche in medical
offices; specifically dental facilities. This
remains a significant part of his company
today. He also constructed a few Walgreens
and CVS stores. He has since ventured into
more demanding projects, even building in
downtown Indianapolis.
In February 2005, Allen’s company
purchased the 90,000-square-foot Jefferson
Plaza office building on Virginia Avenue
for about $3.5 million. Plans call for a $12
million renovation, which will transform the
eight-story building into restaurants with
outside seating, office space and luxury
condominiums that range in price from
$275,000 to $1 million.
He also is in the midst of a rumored
deal for property across from Conseco
Fieldhouse. Allen wouldn’t comment on
the project, but the Indianapolis Business
Journal reported in January that there were
rumors that Allen was seeking an incentives
package from the city that would allow him
to build a 26-story hotel and retail project.
As of press time, the city had yet to respond
to his request.
Despite his ventures into Indy, Allen
knows his bread and butter remains on the
southside. But he is always looking for the
next opportunity.
“I like the challenge of moving to the
next frontier. That way you never have a
boring day at work because you are always
learning something new,” Allen said. “I
think when you stop reaching for new
opportunities, that’s when you stop growing
and start dying.”
Allen says he is able to keep his eye on
the future because he has such confidence
in his 70 or so employees to manage day-today operations.
“My greatest asset is not that I’m some
visionary or I’ve got all these great ideas …
it’s that I have been surrounded by really
good people that have the same passion
and vision for what we want and how we
want to do it,” Allen said. “It’s not ‘me,’ it’s
‘we.’”
Since starting his commercial operation,
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The first home built by J. Greg Allen
SUMMER 2007 | SOUTH
19
Newest
Smith Valley Road
Curry Road
w w w. c o n d o s a t p i n e h u r s t . c o m
Three Custom J. Greg Allen Neighborhoods in Johnson County (for more information, call 883.5527)
* Shadow Wood & The Reserve at Somerset (located off Smokey Row Road) * Brighton Estates (off Honey Creek)
The dif ference is in
the details.
Building elegant homes
that combine innovative
knowledge with a pricing
strategy that makes style
and quality affordable.
For communities, floor plans
and details, visit us at:
www.princetonhomesonline.com
From the $150s to $300s
A J. GREG ALLEN COMPANY
Inside one of Allen’s Princeton Homes
Allen has formed a couple other ventures.
Because he usually retains ownership of his
building projects, he opened leasing and
property management divisions.
Gail Richards, former director of Greater
Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, said
part of the reason for Allen’s commercial
success is that he rarely builds without
having the right anchor store.
“He does top-rate developments,
whether it’s residential or business,”
Richards said. “They are all very upscale.
(The commercial projects) attract the types
of companies that pay higher wages and will
stick around.”
Allen isn’t arrogant enough to think that
he is the one responsible for transforming
the southside. He knows there have been
other builders, such as Mike Duke, Dennis
Copenhaver and Ron Wampler to name a
few, who have been just as instrumental.
“I feel a great sense of pride, but I feel
more fortunate to have been a part of it, not
responsible for it,” Allen said. “We did a lot
of things right, at the right time, in an area
of great opportunity.
“I could have grown up in an area of
the country or world where opportunity is
not so readily available. So, you count your
blessings.”
INTO THE FUTURE
Allen is banking that the next big wave
of southside development will occur on the
east side of Greenwood, and travel down
Interstate 65. Quick access to a major
interstate makes it the logical choice, he
said. Without a major east-west corridor
that connects State Road 37 to I-65, he
thinks upscale development will slow
dramatically in White River Township.
“When you try to go south of Bargersville,
you are really out there,” Allen said. “I think
the cutoff point is Whiteland Road.”
Allen credits Greenwood city officials
for having the same vision he had when the
new interstate interchange came to County
Line Road. He would like to see all public
officials follow suit when it comes to zoning
and development. But, he knows there are
many out there who are opposed to the kind
of growth the southside has experienced in
the past 15 years. The way Allen sees it,
though, you are growing or you are dying.
There is no middle ground.
“As a person, as a business and as a city,
you either go forward, or you go backward,”
“He does top-rate developments, whether it’s
residential or business. They are all very upscale.”
— Gail Richards, Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce
SUMMER 2007 | SOUTH
21
full page ad
Inside one of Allen’s Princeton Homes
22 SOUTH | SUMMER 2007
NAME: J. Greg Allen
CHILDREN: Alicia, 33; Amy, 31;
Adrienne, 26; and Greg, 22
HOME: Eagle Trace in White River
Township
COMPANIES: J. Greg Allen Builder
(which builds about 20 to 25 custom
homes a year such as Pinehurst
and Princeton homes) and Allen
Commercial Group
HONORS: Named Johnson County
builder of the year in 1998; named
by the Indiana Business Journal as
Princeton Homes
one of the top custom builders in
Allen said. “In order for a community to
keep pace with society, amenities that
people expect in a good community, you
have to grow. You have to grow your tax
base. You have to provide good jobs. You
have to expand housing.”
Allen has been a leader in all three,
helping shape the southside landscape for
years to come.
The Johnson County Development
Corp., which works to bring new business
to the area, uses Allen’s upscale work to
showcase the southside. Executive director
Cheryl Morphew said national clients have
often heard of Hamilton County and Carmel
because they are affluent. She hopes the
clients will soon have the same image of
Johnson County.
“What he is doing is an asset to what we
are trying to do,” Morphew said. “Without
him trying to create those types of facilities,
there is no point in us chasing that type of
client.”
It’s been decades since Allen got his
first glimpse of Greenwood through the
windows of a Chrysler. What he saw as a
young boy remains virtually the same today.
The southside is home for families wanting
a better life.
Only now, he’s in the driver’s seat.
“It hasn’t been an elaborate master plan.
It’s been more of a response to the growth
and the opportunities that I think become
obvious from the growth of a market like
this,” Allen said. “Greenwood and Center
Grove have been good to me, and I hope
that I’ve been good for Greenwood and
Center Grove.” S
Indianapolis; Ernst & Young Indiana
Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999;
named to Greenwood Community
High School’s Wall of Fame
TOP RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS:
Eagle’s Landing, Eagle Trace, Highland
Park, Shadowood, Ashwood & Heron
Ridge
TOP COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS:
Emerson
Indy),
Pointe
Indiana
(Bicycle
Garage
American
Office
Park, Meridian Parke (Fairview Road
near Meijer), Allen-Christy Executive
Building (State Road 135 south of
Fairview Road)
“In order for a community to keep pace with
society — amenities that people expect in a good
community — you have to grow.”
— J. Greg Allen
SUMMER 2007 | SOUTH
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