We climbed the steps up to a 50,455-square-foot concrete ballroom, and as directions were given to “watch your step,” nearly 50 industry professionals navigated the construction zone for the topping out ceremony of the Signia by Hilton Indianapolis. It was the first meeting held in a hotel purpose-built for meetings.
“I did mean to talk to [Signia by Hilton Indianapolis General Manager] Kathy [Heneghan] about not having events in the ballroom without carpet, wallpaper and light fixtures, but this is a great event, this is perfectly fine,” quipped Gary Steffen, senior vice president and global head of Hilton’s full-service brands: Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton and Signia by Hilton.
Steffen was spot-on when it came to status of the property, as the property topped out October 3 and, according to Visit Indy President and CEO Leonard Hoops, will be open for business a year later.
The hotel is Signia’s fourth property and the second Signia in the country to be built from the ground up. Hilton’s Signia brand is making its Midwestern debut in Indiana and breaking records in Indianapolis.
Welcoming the 800-room Signia is a game-changer for Indianapolis—and not because it will be the tallest hotel in the city, but because it sets the city apart as one of the only cities in the U.S. home to a Signia-branded property. The addition of the new Hilton brings the total number of hotel rooms “under one roof”—in Indianapolis, skywalks connect the largest number of hotels to a convention center in the U.S.—to 5,200.
The Hilton property also draws meeting planners and attendees who belong to Hilton Honors. Prior to the addition of the Signia, Hilton was not very well represented in the city, but the Signia attracts more than Hilton Honors members; it is also generating some respectable revenue.
At the topping out ceremony, Hoops announced the development drew in an additional $1 billion in new bookings, with future events on its calendar booked out through 2036. The development also helped retain $1.3 billion in convention business, including the convention center’s four annual groups that each draw approximately 70,000 attendees; Future Farmers of America, Performance Racing Industry (PRI), Gen Con and Fire Department Instructor's Council (FDIC) International.
Hoops also announced that the American Society of Safety Professionals will host its annual meeting in Indianapolis in June 2030, utilizing the Signia Grand Ballroom for a general session of 10,000 attendees, a convention projected to generate $11.5 million in economic impact.
By Meeting Planners, For Meeting Planners
Inside the nascent Signia, the soundtrack to my interview with Kyle Stevens, director of sales and marketing at the property, was the drilling of concrete.
Stevens comes to Indianapolis from Atlanta, where he has the uncommon opportunity to say he has worked for half of the Signias in the U.S.
“What we’re already starting to see is those customers that have now actualized in Atlanta are now looking to come to Indianapolis,” he said.
Stevens took me back to when the Signia brand was developed and explained how the properties were created with meeting planners in mind. The new property, he said, gives planners nearly 100,000 reasons to meet in Indianapolis.
The $710 million development of the Signia by Hilton and Indiana Convention Center expansion will offer nearly 100,000 square feet of meeting space between three ballrooms and 70 suites that will range from 450 to 1,900 square feet.
The 143,500-square-foot convention center expansion includes Signia’s grand ballroom and is the newest renovation since Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 2012. That expansion project added the JW Marriott and the convention center’s south campus.
“I think for us, it helps Indianapolis as a city compete against some of these other markets,” Stevens said.
In Indianapolis, Connection Is Key
The Indiana Convention Center’s position with skywalks connected to hotels and Lucas Oil Stadium offers endless opportunities for meetings, conventions and events. Indiana Convention Center Director of Sales and Marketing Monique Wise said that between the convention center’s 11 exhibit halls, the venue offers 566,600 square feet of continuous meeting space.
Wise said once visitors leave the airport, they can take their jacket off because once they arrive at the hotel or convention center, they’ll never leave the building. Especially since the corridor connecting the convention center to Lucas Oil Stadium is climate-controlled.
An NFL Stadium That Doubles as a Convention Hall
When I walked over to Lucas Oil Stadium, Booking Manager Mikayla Holcomb asked if I had ever been on an NFL field before. I hadn’t, and while this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, I later learned that convention groups bring many largescale items onto the “tradeshow floor” when the NFL stadium transforms into a convention space. FDIC, for example, drives in firetrucks with extended ladders, and PRI brings motorsport vehicles to its show floor.
“The sky is the limit on production in this building because we have all the resources,” said Eric Neuburger, general manager of Lucas Oil Stadium.
The ability to book the stadium in addition to the convention center allows the opportunity to bring large activations to any meetings, conventions and events. Between the exhibit halls at Lucas Oil and the field, if all the airwalls are open and the stadium's bleachers are down, Lucas Oil offers nearly 200,000 square feet of continuous open space.
“Flexibility is what we have,” Neuburger offered.
Off the Scene: Other Places to Meet in Indy
Aside from the Indiana Convention Center and all of its adjacent connections, Indianapolis offers a variety of venues that are bookable for meetings and events.
I had the opportunity to tour one of Indianapolis’ luxury hotels, the InterContinental Indianapolis. I had appetizers at the hotel’s Astrea Rooftop Bar and was given the best seat in the house. Restaurant-goers kept coming to our table to take in the scenic city view. I selected samplings from a potato-themed menu that was catered toward my education at The University of Iowa—a farm state—which truly brought me back to one of my favorite menu items at the Iowa State Fair last year, fried potato balls.
I was able to get an exclusive sneak peek—and tasting—at JW Marriott’s new restaurant, Dean’s Steak & Seafood. The steakhouse is replacing OP Italian. Over samplings of the restaurant's new menu, I toured the 240-seat restaurant anticipated to open November 6.
Dean’s will offer two fully private spaces in the restaurant and two semi-private spaces, one of which, The Great Room, is fit to host 28 guests and includes a lounge area.
Another meeting venue iconic to Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum underwent 17 months of renovations and reopened in April 2025. Guest attendance at the museum is already tracking higher, and meetings and events were booked through October when I visited in early September.
Planners can buy out the full museum or reserve specific spaces. The largest and most utilized space is the atrium, which has a capacity for 275 guests. Planners can also add on the “Track Tour” to get the full Indy Car experience.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse may be known as the home of the Indiana Fever and Pacers, hosting 60 basketball games each year, but the venue also has a variety of spaces to book.
Morris Bicentennial Plaza used to be a parking lot, and as I stood under an art installation there named “The Sphere,” the display lit up like a Christmas tree with a surround sound advertisement for Pentatonix’s “Christmas in the City” tour promotion. The plaza is a multifunction space for 2,000 guests. It was part of a three-phase, $390 million renovation that began in 2020 and was completed in 2023. The renovation, dubbed the “fieldhouse of the future,” features basketball courts outside the fieldhouse that are open to the public. Overlooking the plaza is the Commission Row entertainment venue, with a speakeasy and balcony and which is bookable for up to 300 guests.
Gainbridge also offers meeting space, such as The Hinkle Conference Room, which can be split into three rooms, and the Crowe Conference Room is a boardroom-style option with 20 seats.
“This is the state’s most widely used venue,” said Danny Lopez, president and CEO of Vincam Public Relations, which represents the facility.
The most used meeting space, Penn Street Conference room, was originally intended to be “white box space” or space for expansion. In regard to what the conference room offers to attendees, Andy Arnold, executive vice president & chief venues officer at Pacers Sports and Entertainment said, “What I like to tell clients when they come in is, everything that I own is yours [and is included in your room rental.]”
Gainbridge Fieldhouse will soon be a part of Indianapolis’ signature skywalk connections. As part of the city’s $3 billion tourism in developments, a 170-room Shinola Hotel anticipated to open in 2027 will be connected by skywalk to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The hotel will offer meeting space as well as a 4,000-capacity music venue operated by Live Nation.
“We are underway with an incredible renaissance; maybe the biggest jump in product development [ever],” Hoops said.
