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Development plans percolating in five urban corridors: East 10th Street, Fountain Square lead FOCUS pack.

Article Excerpt
DataSmith Technologies owner James Smith started looking almost two years ago for a building to house his business, his home and possibly a revenue-generating tenant.

What he ended up with was a dilapidated former bar on a struggling section of East 10th Street that had become a haven for vagrants.

Smith took a chance on the building at 2032 E. 10th St., most recently home to Mustang Sally's tavern, largely because of the involvement of the East 10th Street Civic Association. That organization is leading efforts to revitalize the corridor through a program called Fostering Commercial Urban Strategies, supported by the city and the Indianapolis office of the Local Initiatives Support Corp.

Launched locally in 2004, the FOCUS program provides grants and technical support to organizers in five inner-city corridors who are hoping to bring viable small businesses back to their neighborhoods. In addition to East 10th Street, targeted corridors include Fountain Square, West Washington Street, 16th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. A sixth corridor is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

East 10th Street is one of the first corridors to show tangible results--such as Smith's building--from its FOCUS efforts. The building, renamed the Mayfair after the original bar that occupied it, has been gutted and is undergoing reconstruction. Smith hopes to...