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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Noblesville City Council on Tuesday approved a $10 million incentive agreement with Republic Development Corp. and J.C. Hart Co. to support their downtown apartment project.
Toledo-based Republic and Carmel-based J.C. Hart have amassed 3.4 acres just south of Conner Street for their latest mixed-use apartment complex. The $48 million project, called East Bank for its location next to the White River, will replace the current Hamilton County parking lot and McMillan’s Auto Care & Towing at 599 Conner St. with a four-story apartment complex with 219 or so units.
The development will include 5,295 square feet of retail on the ground floor and a parking garage with 295 spaces.
“I’m confident that this decision, this vetting process we’ve gone through is bringing the right project at the right time,” Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen said. “It’s another project under our administration that shows a sign of significant investment in our downtown. It continues to create and enhance a 24/7 ecosystem in (the) downtown.”
The city plans to create a tax increment finance district for East River Partners LLC, the joint entity behind the project, to capture the increase in the assessed value East Bank will bring to the property.
City officials believe that increase will be enough to support a $9.9 million, 25-year tax increment finance bond backed by the developer.
Initially, East River Partners will pay the city a quarter-million dollars for underwriting purposes. Then, for the first eight years of the bond, the city’s redevelopment commission will capture $50,000 of those tax increment finance revenues. The city’s redevelopment will also pay for 15% of the $1.2 million in road, sewer and park impact fees owed by the company.
Though project’s scope has narrowed since it was first outlined in an August purchase agreement with the Hamilton County Public Building Corporation, the council voted unanimously in favor of approving the economic development agreement.
East River Partners expects to start work on the project in August or September so that the project may be completed before October 2023.
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Great to see a private sector redevelopment of another “blighted” property that would never happen “but for” the taxpayers chipping in to cover 20% of the cost.