Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner, left, talks with Councilman Mike Klondaris, right, about the former Marsh property at Monday’s Warsaw Redevelopment Commission meeting. In the middle is Commission President George Clemens. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — A memorandum of understanding between the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission and Warsaw Antique Mall for the former Marsh property, 501 S. Buffalo St., was approved by the commission at their meeting Monday, May 5.

At the April 14 commission meeting, Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner asked for permission to work with Randy Rompola, legal counsel with Barnes & Thornburg, to create the MOU for the property, which was approved. Monday, Skinner presented the MOU to the commission and said the MOU gives the potential purchaser the ability to do some due diligence on the property over the next 60 days.

“At which point we will work toward entering into a purchase agreement and disposition of the property,” he said.

The purchase price is $1 million over a five-year payment plan. As of Monday, it will potentially exclude an outlot for another potential purchaser the city has another MOU with. Skinner said the MOU gives Warsaw Antique Mall the right to do due diligence on the property without the city disposing of it during that 60-day window.

The city bought the Marsh property from Cardinal Services for $1.25 million in 2023.  Councilman Mike Klondaris, who was absent at the April 14 meeting, said Monday he talked with commission member and former Warsaw mayor Joe Thallemer, Commission President George Clemens and Skinner about the property.

“This would not be my first choice to do. I really had tried to hold out. Everyone I talked to — everyone has told me they want a grocery store down there, and I really tried to stay true to that. But we keep running into dead ends. We’ve tried a firm in Alabama. I told Jeremy, when we get to the end, I’d like to keep as many of our options open as we can if something should change. We can’t sit on this building forever,” Klondaris said.

As they get closer to the purchase agreement, Skinner said they can have more discussions on it. Thallemer said no one wanted a grocery store down there more than he did, but “we’ve got to be practical about it and realistic about it, quite frankly.”

“We tried,” Klondaris stated. “We really, really tried. We had a one-year contract with Retail Strategies. We kept running into dead ends. I was hoping maybe if we were able to carve out one outlot in that parking lot, perhaps we could carve out a couple more.”

Klondaris asked Skinner if the potential purchaser will need all that parking space.

Skinner said there will be times of the year they may. “But to your point and Joe’s point, is there a possibility for some other outlots? I think so. Are they a better entity to develop them than we are? Maybe,” Skinner said. “… I would much rather be an incentivizer to them than try to play developer. So I would much rather bring people to them and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got someone who wants to put a (blank) out front, would you talk to them and see what the possibilities are, what that would look like?’ And then we could be the middle man, the incentivizer, rather than trying to market and develop the property. I don’t think that’s something we do very well. I think it’s better for us to bring in those people who would be in the developer role and us to just be the incentivizer. It takes the risk away from us.”

Thallemer said the city bought the building originally “because we thought there was a use that was coming and we didn’t want that there, so controlling the use of the building was why we bought it. Now, I think we’re somewhat relinquishing that role, and I think we have to come to grips with that.”

The MOU was unanimously approved.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the OrthoWorx Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative subrecipient agreement for the Union Station Lofts at the former Gatke Corp. site. The project consists of 80 market-rate apartments and 3,000 square feet of small business commercial suites. The agreement is for $1.4 million from OIRI to go toward the Union Station Lofts. Skinner said the city won’t receive the money, but the developer will submit claims to the city and the city will approve them and submit them to OrthoWorx for payout. Construction on the site has started.

• Approved change order no. 1 with Phend & Brown Inc. for the CR 300N road improvements project for a deduction of $54,700.95. Skinner said they’re switching from limestone to gravel as the city’s projects use gravel since it’s more readily available and thus less expensive. The project is a 50/50 match through the state, so the redevelopment commission is paying 50% of the total contract and the funds will come out of the Northern Tax Increment Financing. With the deduction, the city is saving approximately $27,000.

• Approved a consulting contract with American Structurepoint Inc. for the Anchorage Road rehabilitation and widening project from SR 15 to Biomet Drive. The maximum amount payable under the contract shall not exceed $617,660.10. The project is an 80/20 match, meaning the Indiana Department of Transportation pays 80% of the costs of the project and the city pays 20%. The city’s portion will be paid out of Northern TIF professional services fund. Skinner said the contract is for the construction inspection phase of the project. He hopes the project will be let in October, but construction may not begin until 2026. Construction will be broken up into phases.

• Approved an engagement letter with Baker Tilly, municipal financial advisers, for work toward the bond issuance for the Millworks mixed-used project at the former site of old Owen’s.

• Reviewed the compliance forms with Huntington National Bank for the commission’s bond issues. No action was taken or needed.

• Approved claims, including $399.46 to Indiana American Water; $15,302.50, A & Z Engineering; $409.72, A & Z Engineering; $62.81, Times-Union; $100.66, Quill; $25, Kosciusko County Recorder’s Office; $589.07, Kosciusko County Treasurer’s Office; $54.76, The UPS Store; $300, Kosciusko Development Inc.; and $42,000, West Hill Development LLC.

The next Redevelopment Commission meeting is tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. May 19 in the city council chambers at City Hall.