Indianapolis agrees to $4.2M deal for justice center land

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The city of Indianapolis has reached a $4.2 million deal to buy and lease land for a new $572 million criminal justice center.

Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Monday the city had agreed to purchase 140 acres from Citizens Energy on Indianapolis' southeast side. The city would buy some parcels for $2.1 million and lease others for another $2.1 million.

Indianapolis would take full ownership of the land once environmental remediation work is completed on the site, which once housed a plant that made a solid carbon fuel called coke.

Hogsett unveiled his plan last year for a new jail and assessment center that would replace Marion County's three overcrowded jail facilities.

The City-County Council in 2015 rejected a $1.75 billion criminal justice center then-Mayor Greg Ballard proposed for another site.