Last May, The Indianapolis Star announced that they would be moving their downtown headquarters. For over 100 years, The Star has been located in the same building on North Pennsylvania Street. But like many other newspapers around the world, the digital age of information shrunk circulation numbers and staff size. Since making the announcement, the company has been searching for a new spot to call home. And yesterday they announced that they might have found one. Unfortunately, some residents aren’t thrilled about the potential space the company may be leasing.

The Star has proposed to lease the space in Circle Center mall left vacant over two years ago by Nordstrom. This space is widely considered to be an anchor store of the mall. The fact that it has sat vacant for such a long period of time has been damaging to the commerce of that particular corner of the mall.

I first saw The Star’s announcement posted on Facebook, and reactions from readers were less than enthusiastic about the proposed move. Some commented that it would further damage the retail shopping experience in Circle Center Mall. And many seemed to be hoping that a Target, Whole Foods or some kind of grocery store would occupy that space. After all, there is only one grocery store for residents living downtown.

In terms of real estate, downtown Indianapolis is a growing market. In fact, The Star’s old headquarters will be rebuilt into an apartment building. Yet, without more grocery stores and practical amenities, will downtown ever flourish as much as other urban areas? We will just have to wait and see what kind of impact this move makes on the real estate market downtown.