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A DAY IN THE LIFE: FISHERS & GEIST
from the Indianapolis Star - September 22, 2003
For some, Geist is more than glitz
Wealth, celebrity status have transformed once-pastoral waterfront area
By Bill Ruthhart
bill.ruthhart@indystar.com
When Joe Stewart moved into his home near the shores of Geist Reservoir, times were different.
It was 1975, he was just 11 years old and there was nothing but rolling hills, trees and sparkling water in sight for miles.
"It was peaceful," he said.
And now?
"It's crazy."
Stewart, now 39, complains about too much traffic, snobby neighbors and the rapid development that has engulfed his once-peaceful 60-acre homestead. His land is now down to five acres, and to him, Geist has been transformed into everything he hoped it would never become.
"We used to be able to do anything we wanted on Fall Creek Road -- snowmobile, go four-wheeling. Nobody cared," he said. "When I look at what it's become now, I'm speechless."
Most Indianapolis residents don't share Stewart's shock, though.
They don't think of Geist as a peaceful island of nature. They think of Geist as it is today -- home to some of the area's biggest and wealthiest celebrities.
Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller and gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels both call Geist home, as do a number of other well-known professional athletes and business executives. Former Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy, TV anchor Pat Carlini, mystery writer Terence Faherty and Indianapolis Men's Magazine President Todd Tobias -- just to name a few -- all live in Geist.
F.C. Tucker real estate broker Gene Tumbarello, who once sold the home of Tom Griswold -- of Bob and Tom radio show fame -- said the celebrity sparkle is all part of the Geist aura.
"It's not unusual to go into the grocery store and run into someone famous," Tumbarello said. "And it certainly doesn't hurt your chances of selling a home when you can drive by and say, 'Oh yeah, and by the way, Reggie Miller lives over there.'"
Of course, with celebrities come lofty price tags. After all, not just anybody can buy waterfront property in Geist.
"If I saw a property with a water view that was going under $600,000, I'd ask what's wrong with it," Tumbarello said. "Because if it's selling for that cheap, chances are that house needs a lot of work."
He said large executive homes on the reservoir with high visibility currently are selling for between $2 million and $3 million, depending on the size of the lot and home. Waterfront properties on wooded inlets and bays don't go for much under $700,000 these days, while any property with a water view sells for between $600,000 and $800,0000, Tumbarello said.
Most of the waterfront homes come with their own boat docks, and the ones with views tend to share one. Then there are the housing communities with cart paths running down to the docks. Tumbarello said those homes range from $300,000 to $600,000.
"I had a couple this week that was looking to buy up from one of those homes to one for a million or a million and a half just to get that view of a sunrise or sunset on the water," he said. "And that's not unusual around here. It happens a lot."
Just as Stewart has been stunned by how much development has taken place around his home, Tumbarello has been amazed by how property values have skyrocketed.
"About 10 years ago when I started selling in this area, those prime houses on the water went for $500,000, $600,000 tops," he said. "Those properties have appreciated tremendously over the last few years."
The credit goes to the growing scarcity of homes and home sites in the area, along with an increased demand to locate there. Factor that in with the great care that Geist homeowners take of their properties, and the math isn't hard to figure, Tumbarello says.
"As they continue to run out of space, the lots keep selling at higher and higher prices," he said. "And the lots are a lot smaller than they were 15, 20 years ago. More and more people want that higher-end type of lifestyle."
For many who live in Geist, the desired lifestyle is being able to hop on a boat in just minutes and spend the afternoon soaking in the sun on the water.
At least that's why Dr. Gordon McLaughlin moved there 19 years ago.
McLaughlin, who grew up boating in western Indiana, said his family considered buying a second cottage home on the water somewhere. Then they found Geist.
"With four kids and my busy schedule, this was the compromise," McLaughlin said as he tied down his pontoon boat in the Geist Marina. "There really aren't any other large bodies of water to boat on in Central Indiana, so this was it for us."
When asked what the biggest change has been in the time he lived in Geist, it took McLaughlin just a split second to spit it out: "Traffic."
"Street traffic and boat traffic, there's a lot more of it," he said. "But a lot of that just goes along with the development process."
It's a process McLaughlin said he understands, although he said he's glad to live in the "older" part of Geist, which is more secluded.
Stewart's home used to be secluded. Now it's located on the busy entry point to the reservoir. It still sits next door to the 62-year-old Ace Kennels, which he also owns.
"One of the main reasons people used to come up here was to drop their dogs off from the city," said Stewart, whose kennel still reaches its capacity of 200 dogs and 50 cats on a regular basis. "Now all the business comes from the people that live here."
And Stewart hasn't grown very fond of those people, who he said don't seem to mix well with the average working man or woman.
"They've got an attitude, like they're better than everybody else."
But as the millionaires and mansions have continued to migrate into his neighborhood, Stewart has survived in his modest home by adapting. In addition to running the kennel, he also sells boat docks in Geist. It's a business that he said has become very competitive, but he manages OK by "sticking to the big projects."
Much of the land his home and the kennel once sat on now belongs to the adjacent church, and Stewart said he could sell his land in a heartbeat, but . . .
"I'm just not ready to get rid of it all yet."
There's something about Geist that keeps him there. The same goes for Amy Spear, a 23-year-old who grew up in Geist before moving to Broad Ripple with her mother. Now, Spear and some friends have gone in on a house together.
"It was time for me to come back," she said. "I know all the people, I know all the places, I know how to get around. This is my hometown."
Geist isn't a municipality of its own, of course. The area is located in three different counties and has no real boundaries other than the shores of the reservoir.
Still, when Spear is asked where she's from, her answer is Geist.
Stewart said that used to be his answer, too.
"If I tell somebody where I live, I tell them I live in Indianapolis. I don't tell them I live in Geist," he said. "I don't want to put that over their head and have them think I have some ritzy attitude. I don't live on that side of the street. I don't live there anymore."
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