A view of the planned plaza alongside Center Lake.

WARSAW — Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer had big news to announce at the Warsaw Common Council meeting held last night, Monday, Jan. 17. The Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority approved the Buffalo Street project on Monday afternoon, providing a $3.5 million dollar grant for the project.

City Planner Jeremy Skinner provided the council with a full description of the project plan. The Buffalo Street project will combine urban housing and mixed-use development within one comprehensive redevelopment project located close to the downtown area and Central Park. When completed, 52 various residences, a multi-use building, a community plaza, $546,000 in annual tax returns and 85-90 new jobs will be added to Warsaw.

The mixed-use building will be at the site of the old Indiana American Water property. The building will provide a mix of commercial and residential opportunities for the community.

The plaza will be located near the boat ramp along the lake. After discussion with the DNR, the current boat ramp will be moved to off of SR 15 as the current ramp does not meet ADA standards. The plaza will include open lawn area for park functions, a boardwalk, seating and an interactive fountain.

Dave Matthews, an urban developer from South Bend with Matthew LLC is investing over 20 million dollars into the project by creating the housing developments. The residences will include townhomes, city homes and mews along both sides of North Buffalo Street between Fort Wayne Street and the city park property of Center Lake.

The City of Warsaw will fund a little over $3.5 million and the remaining $3.5 million was received Monday with the RDA grant.

The project is set to start as early as March with necessary infrastructure and road improvements. Construction will commence immediately after, with the first homes being finished within 2017. The project will continue on in multiple phases. Most of the work will be finished within four years, but the total project will be done within ten years.

“I am thankful of the careful foresight of the Common Council and the Redevelopment Commission as well as the collaborative community planning exercised by our Building and Planning Department, Parks and Recreation, Street Department, Wastewater and Stormwater Utilities, Engineering and city legal services,” said Thallemer. “Our community is proud to move ahead with a project of this caliber.”

In other news:

• The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club hopes to have its car show on June 4. The date will have to be approved by the Board of Works.
• OrthoWorx representatives provided an update on AcceLINX. A total of $3.3 million has been committed to the company for establishment and operating costs. A formal report of the progress will be made in July.
• Mike Klondaris was re-elected as council president for 2017.
• Conflict of interest disclosures were presented to the council and all were approved.