Mayor Chris Jensen called it the largest downtown infrastructure project the city has taken on in three decades. That framing was for residents and shoppers. If you own a house within a few blocks of the Courthouse Square and you're deciding whether to list this fall, the framing you need is different: the project isn't ending on one day, it's ending in two stages, and the Seller's Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure form makes clear that Indiana's disclosure law doesn't let you lock in your answer the day you sign a listing agreement.
Embrace Downtown broke ground in February 2026 as a multi-phase rebuild of Logan Street, from new stormwater and sanitary sewer separation underground to curbless sidewalks, decorative signal poles and street trees at grade. Phase 1A, the initial closure at 8th and Logan, wrapped in about 45 days. Phase 1B started in mid-April on Logan Street between 8th and 9th, and the city's own project updates describe it as running "until this fall, weather dependent." Overall completion is targeted for November 2026, also weather dependent. What doesn't get much attention outside city communications is what happens between those two dates: Phase 1C, sidewalk reconstruction along the same stretch, begins immediately after 1B ends, with no gap for the block to sit finished before the next phase starts.
That detail matters more to a seller than it does to a downtown diner, because a seller's disclosure obligations don't stop at the closing table the way a shopper's evening does.
The Phase You List In Isn't Necessarily the Phase You Close In
Homes near Logan Street between 8th and 9th are currently inside a live construction zone. Business access is maintained, and a six-foot sidewalk stays open along building fronts, but there's no on-street parking on that block, and the remaining sidewalk and street up to the Hamilton County Courthouse seat wall stays closed as crews work through it. That's Phase 1B.
Phase 1C follows right behind it: removing the temporary six-foot sidewalk and replacing it with the permanent decorative paver version. The city has said 1C will "immediately follow" 1B and last into the fall.
Here's the timing problem for a seller. A typical Hamilton County closing runs 30 to 45 days from accepted offer. List a home near Logan Street in late September while Phase 1B is active, and there's a real chance the block transitions into Phase 1C sidewalk demolition sometime before your closing date, not after it. You'd be delivering your disclosure form under one set of conditions and closing under another.
| Phase 1B (current) | Phase 1C (follows immediately) | |
|---|---|---|
| What's restricted | No on-street parking, 8th-9th block | Existing sidewalk removed and rebuilt |
| Access to businesses | Maintained via 6-ft sidewalk | Maintained per city plan, but active demo underfoot |
| Typical seller assumption | "It'll be done before I close" | Often overlooked entirely |
| What buyers will see on a showing | Equipment on the street, no curb parking | Fresh excavation, temporary walking surface |
"Wait Until It's Finished" Isn't a Strategy, It's a Bet on Weather
Every city update on this project carries the same qualifier: weather dependent. That phrase has already mattered once. Phase 1A's 45-day closure and the shift into 1B both moved on their own schedule relative to the original planning documents, and the city has been explicit that future timing depends on conditions crews can't control. November 2026 is the target for full completion, not a contractual date.
A seller who decides to hold a listing until "construction is done" is making a bet that a Midwest fall finishes on schedule. If it doesn't, that seller has given up a full selling season for a completion date that may slip into winter, when Hamilton County's own showing traffic typically slows regardless of what's happening on Logan Street.
The more useful question isn't when the project finishes. It's what you tell a buyer in the meantime, and when the law requires you to update that answer.
Your Disclosure Form Doesn't Freeze on the Day You Sign It
According to Nolo's guide to Indiana home seller disclosures, Indiana requires sellers of most 1-4 unit residential properties to complete the Seller's Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure, State Form 46234, and get it to the buyer before an offer is accepted. The form is built around what the statute calls the seller's "current actual knowledge," and it explicitly does not ask you to investigate or guess. You disclose what you know.
The part sellers near an active construction zone tend to miss is the certification at closing. Indiana law requires the seller to either certify that the property's condition is substantially the same as when the disclosure form was first delivered, or to notify the buyer in writing of any material change before settlement. A construction phase that shifts from "no parking on this block" to "sidewalk torn up in front of the house" between your listing date and your closing date would mean you're closing under different conditions. A buyer who drives up to a closing walkthrough and finds excavation where there was a sidewalk two weeks earlier is going to ask why nobody mentioned it changed.
The safer path for a seller inside this footprint is to treat any construction-phase shift between contract and closing as something you flag in writing, even if you're not legally certain it rises to a required disclosure. It costs you nothing to send that update. It costs a deal a lot if a buyer feels like something was withheld.
Showing a Home While the Street in Front of It Is a Job Site
Buyers touring a Logan Street area home right now will park off the block, most likely on a side street or in a nearby lot, and walk in along the maintained sidewalk. That's a different first impression than a quiet residential street, and it's worth managing rather than hoping the buyer overlooks it.
Businesses in the construction zone are still open. Alexander's on the Square is one of the participants in the city's stamp-card promotion built to keep foot traffic moving through downtown during the work, and its owner, Cheryl Schulz, has described the program as giving customers a reason to visit multiple downtown businesses during construction. That's a useful thing to point out on a tour: the block is inconvenienced, not closed. A buyer walking a few storefronts down from an active job site to a coffee shop or a shop that's still doing business sees a downtown that's mid-repair, not a downtown that's struggling.
Framing matters here without overselling it. "This infrastructure work replaces water lines that are more than a hundred years old and wraps up this fall" is accurate and verifiable. Promising a specific finish date isn't, since the city itself won't commit to one beyond the general November target.
What Proximity to the Square Is Actually Worth Right Now
Distance from Logan Street changes what a downtown-area home is worth in ways that have nothing to do with charm. Historic homes near the Square, including turn-of-the-century houses and a handful of downtown condos, have generally traded in a range from the mid-to-high $300,000s up to roughly $400,000 over the past two years, and that range moves with home type, condition, and how close the lot sits to the active construction corridor versus a quieter block a few streets over. A buyer comparing two similarly priced homes near downtown right now isn't just weighing square footage. They're weighing whether their daily walk to the car crosses a job site.
That's the piece a citywide median price can't tell you. A number that averages a home three blocks from Logan Street against one facing it directly flattens the exact variable a buyer in this footprint cares about most this fall.
A Few Questions Worth Settling Before You List
Do I have to put the construction on my Indiana disclosure form? The standard form focuses on the physical condition of the structure and its systems, not municipal street work. Many sellers choose to mention it anyway in the additional comments section, since it costs nothing and builds trust with a buyer who's going to notice it during the showing regardless.
What if the construction phase changes between my accepted offer and closing? Indiana requires you to certify at closing that conditions are substantially the same as when you delivered your disclosure, or to notify the buyer in writing of a material change before settlement. A shift from Phase 1B to Phase 1C on your block is worth flagging in writing even if you're not certain it meets the legal definition of a material defect. It protects the transaction more than it exposes you.
Does being near this construction actually hurt resale value? There's no data yet that isolates a value impact specific to this project, and the historic pricing range near the Square has held steady through the construction period so far. The bigger practical effect right now is on showings and buyer perception, not appraised value.
If you own a home inside this footprint and you're weighing whether to list before Phase 1C starts, wait for it to finish, or price around it either way, that's a conversation worth having with someone who's been tracking this project block by block. The Home Experts can walk your specific address against the construction timeline, your disclosure form, and what similar homes near the Square have actually closed for. Request a free market valuation before you set a listing date.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
