by: Russ McQuaid | Posted: Feb 9, 2026 / 03:09 PM EST | Updated: Feb 9, 2026 / 06:22 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS — When he was a student at the IU Kelley Business School back in the late seventies and early eighties, Terry Tallen also played linebacker for Coach Lee Corso and helped hoist the Hoosiers 1979 Holiday Bowl trophy.
“He taught us how to be professional, how to go about our business in a very thoughtful and professional manner,” said Tallen, who recently completed a project titled the Corso Legacy Award and the Positive Coaching Alliance in honor of his former mentor.
Corso’s guidance also taught Tallen how to keep fighting against all odds and persevere, talents that proved beneficial in the California developer’s more than three-year-long quest to buy the dilapidated Irving Plaza along East Washington Street.
The sale closed earlier this month.
”We think Irvington Plaza can be a mixed-use oasis in the Irvington community,” Tallen said.
The former football star said he’s ready to spend in excess of $150 million, with city tax abatement support, to reimagine the 15-acre site to its former glory.
”The fundamentals are there to do something noteworthy and revitalize Irvington,” he said. ”We think the site will be able to absorb in the first phase of this about 200-250 residential units. We also believe we can do 60-80,000 square feet of retail and commercial uses. The area definitely needs a modern grocer. We’re in negotiations with a household name grocer now that would be wonderful to come to the community.”
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