Buffalo Street

WARSAW — Three years after the original bond was issued, progress can be seen with the Buffalo Street Project. City Planner Jeremy Skinner gave updates on the project during the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission and Warsaw Common Council meetings held yesterday, July 2.

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.

Currently, the city is still in the infrastructure phase of the project. The lift station is complete and the sanitary sewer system will be finished within two weeks. After that, storm water work will occur followed by road and curb work. Skinner estimates that the infrastructure work will be completed by the November deadline.

Skinner did note that one property on Buffalo Street still needs to be acquired for the infrastructure work. The property is necessary for the sewer work that would need to be done regardless of the current project. The property owner and the city have been unable to reach an agreement on the acquisition. It was mentioned that based on state guidelines, the city could pay up to 150 percent of the assessed value of a property. The condemnation process has been started, but the city is hopeful the two parties can come to an agreement.

Once the city’s work is completed, Dave Matthews, an urban developer from South Bend, can begin work on the housing units, mews and townhouses. Currently, he has closed on one property acquisition and will close on three more this month. If all goes as planned, the first building will open sometime in 2019.

More phases will follow as the community plaza and multi-use building are completed. Most of the work will be finished within four years, but the total project will be done within ten years.

The Buffalo Street Project is being funded in part by The Indiana Economic Development Corporation through Regional Cities Initiative funding. The project is receiving $3.5 million in funding. Matthews is investing over 20 million dollars into the project by creating the housing developments.