Tenants in properties south of the Bloomington Convention Center, including apartments in Seminary Pointe and businesses My Sister’s Closet, Bluetip Billiards and Jeff’s Warehouse, are preparing for relocation.
Leases will end July 7 for about 17 tenants in the area, Capital Improvement Board President John Whikehart said.
The deadline comes from the county’s plans to add a host hotel near the expanded convention center. Construction on an expansion of the convention center started in 2025 and is set to be finished in 2027.
The county purchased the area in 2010 for about $3 million, according to Indiana Public Media. Whikehart said the CIB accepted a land transfer Wednesday, making it the owner of the area south of the convention center.
After the transfer was complete, the CIB requested the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission enter into negotiations to exchange the property for College Square, north of the convention center, Whikehart said, stating the area south of the center would be better for affordable housing.
Whikehart said the CIB prefers the area north of the convention center as its site for a host hotel.
My Sister’s Closet, a nonprofit that provides professional support services and career development to women in poverty, is planning to move to a new location on West Second Street and South Patterson Drive.
Founder and Executive Director Sandy Keller said they have purchased a lease, but the new location will need major renovations, including building a client services center to assist with tasks like providing computers for customers working on job applications in addition to the boutique and formal room on the property.
To have time to raise money for the renovations, My Sister's Closet has requested an extension of their lease from the CIB. In the meantime, My Sister’s Closet spoke with county attorney Jeff Cockerill about finding temporary office space for client services while the new building is under construction.
Keller said until it’s approved at the state level, My Sister’s Closet can’t start renovations on the new building, which she called “basically two uninsulated large garages” that would take two to three months to renovate and move items from the original store.
Keller said several customers have asked her about leases ending for her and other tenants.
“Ten times a day people come in and they want to know what's going on and some people are very stressed about it because they're concerned about those individuals,” Keller said.
Although some customers have been concerned, Keller said the convention center has the opportunity to positively impact the community.
“People like the women My Sister's Closet is serving will be able to have more job opportunities, because most of them are single parent households, and they're struggling to be able to put food on the table for their kids,” Keller said. “We're always trying to find better jobs with benefits so they could do that. If this results in something like that, and it ends up being, you know, two, 300 jobs that we didn't have in the community before, then I think that would be a fantastic thing.”
Bluetip Billiards owner Dale Smith said the business is close to purchasing a location about a mile away from its current spot. Smith said the new location is larger, therefore more expensive.
Smith purchased Bluetip Billiards in September 2020, and said hosting billiards leagues after the COVID-19 pandemic helped build the place back up. Now, Smith said, regulars are concerned about the lease ending.
“There's been a lot of worry over the last month, month and a half, that I wouldn't be able to find a location, or that I would be like, well, this just isn't working for me anymore, and just not even try to relocate,” Smith said.
Although the new location is expensive, Smith said he is excited to have more space for more tables and additional league play.
Indiana University graduate student Jonathan Enriquez lives in Seminary Pointe and said he’s planning to move somewhere else in Bloomington once his lease ends in July. Enriquez said he’s mostly bothered by losing out on such cheap rent.
Enriquez pointed out a hole about two feet wide on the ceiling of his hallway and another above his bed where a pipe burst. He said since the lease is ending, maintenance has put some things off. It doesn’t really bother him, he said, because “this thing is getting knocked down soon anyway.”
Jeff’s Warehouse, an antique shop in the same area, has received an extension on its lease until February, Whikehart said. A county renter’s association is assisting residents with relocation.
