A groundbreaking ceremony took place Tuesday, Sept. 23, for the Millworks redevelopment project at 302 W. Market St., Warsaw.

Text and Photos
By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — Around this time in 2026, Millworks is expected to be built and leasing 86 market-rate apartments, with a yet-to-be-named restaurant in the southeast corner.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 23, city of Warsaw officials, AP Development LLC, the Kosciusko Development Land Trust on behalf of Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. (KEDCO) and others had a groundbreaking ceremony for the $24 million development at 302 W. Market St., Warsaw, the former location of an Owen’s Supermarket.

Kicking off the ceremony, Dan Boecher, AP Development LLC director of asset management, said, “This turnout is just the latest example of the kind of community support that we’ve received from Warsaw since the start of the project, going on two years now.”

He said the development has started and, “What we’re actually doing here is redevelopment, which is another level of magnitude more difficult. And it’s even more difficult if you don’t have the right partners. At AP Development, we’re fortunate that we have a fantastic design team in DELV Design and … we’re also super fortunate that we have such a wonderful working relationship with the city of Warsaw.”

Naming Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner, City Engineer Aaron Ott and City Planner Justin Taylor, he said they’ve been wonderful from start to finish.

A rendering of Millworks is on display at the site of the future 86-unit housing development.

“You encounter things in redevelopment that are unexpected, unforeseen and most of the time those unforeseen things are unpleasant, as well as unforeseen, be that a gasoline before unknown in the middle of a site; a fiber optic line that is terminated in the site that must be relocated; or a power pole that is still on site – that formerly served the Owen’s grocery store – that is still here,” Boecher said. “So, to be able to deal with those things as they arise, you need a good partner. And we deal with communities across the state and across the Midwest, and to a man, AP Development will tell you that our best working relationship with a community and our community partners are with the city of Warsaw.”

He said the folks of the city of Warsaw are very spoiled with the kind of leadership it’s had and continues to have, both at the elected and staff level.

“I just want you to know, from our perspective, they are the best and the type of relationship that you need to be able to get a project of this magnitude in a redevelopment type of setting done and underway,” he concluded.

KEDCO CEO Peggy Friday said, “This project is a result of the hard work and collaborative effort by so many partners here today. Congratulations to the city of Warsaw, AP Development LLC and Kosciusko Development Land Trust. For over the years, many of you have envisioned this project and this infrastructure around Market Street. We’re celebrating many shared accomplishments today.”

She said the project is more than just bricks and mortar.

“Housing is crucial for our community because it promotes economic stability and growth and a stable foundation for families and children,” Friday said. “New housing ensures a stable workforce, which is something that we are working diligently daily to provide.”

The project, she said, will generate spending on construction materials, maintenance staff, construction workers, property managers, leasing agents and maintenance. Millworks will increase the surrounding property values by investing millions on the property.

“A strong residential community draws commercial investments, from retailers, restaurants, service providers and those who want to serve a larger commercial base,” Friday stated.

As the city of Warsaw expects unprecedented growth in talent, business attraction and the expansion of existing businesses throughout the county, she continued, the need for housing and superior infrastructure is more important than ever.

“This new space will become a place where memories are made that represents our community’s commitment to growth, progress and a shared prosperous future,” she said. “Today we take a moment to reflect on this extra-ordinary partnership. There’s been no more important time than now to execute a project of this magnitude. We hope that those who call this place home discover what it feels like to love where you live.”

Mayor Jeff Grose said it was a privilege to be standing at the site of a multi-million-dollar redevelopment project that will replace the supermarket that he used to go to as a kid and a young adult, and that will provide much-needed housing in the area.

“Not only housing in this area, but housing so close to the downtown. An incredible redevelopment project. Appreciate all the stakeholders that are here,” he said, then thanked former mayor Dr. Joe Thallemer, Warsaw Redevelopment Commission members, Skinner, Taylor, Ott and the developers.

AP Development President Jon Anderson concluded the speeches, saying, “We like hard projects at APD. We do a lot of big, historic rehab. Our last event was the grand opening of the Ben Hur redevelopment in Crawfordsville – a 58,000-square-foot building that had been vacant for years. So we get excited about bringing things back to life, bringing new life into something that used to be here.”

Before becoming Owen’s grocery store, the site used to be a lumber mill, hence the name Millworks, Anderson stated.

“The history of this site to downtown Warsaw, what it has meant from that grocery store, from the jobs it once created to now, bringing 86 new apartments, a restaurant to the corner, we’re excited to do it,” he said. “I know everybody wants these things to happen faster. Trust me, I do, too. I’m writing the checks. They all take time and they can’t happen without money.”

He thanked OrthoWorx for their contribution to the project, the Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) and Indiana Economic Development Authority that contributed READI funds to the project. The city has been a great partner in the project, he said, and Everwise is financing the project. He gave additional thanks to KEDCO, who provided a pre-development loan, and Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA).

“As you all know, there was a change in administration at the state. Some of the state funding slowed down for a bit, which is why we’re here today instead of maybe sooner, but we now have a rule at AP Development that we don’t have a ceremonial groundbreaking unless we’re already breaking ground, but that’s why we’re here,” Anderson said.

Construction will begin soon, move quickly and Millworks plans to be open “by this time next year if not sooner,” Anderson said. He wrapped his comments up by thanking Grose, Thallemer and Indiana District 22 State Rep. Craig Snow. Anderson said Snow continued to push the project on APD’s behalf down at the state.

Building Plans

Jon Anderson, president of AP Development LLC, speaks at Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the Millworks project.

In an interview after the ceremony, Anderson said the 86 units will be one- and two-bedrooms and a couple of three-bedrooms. As for the restaurant, he said, “We are pursuing a restaurant use for the corner. We can’t announce it yet, but it’s in the works.”

Amenities planned for the three-story structure include a rooftop amenity on the southeast corner, a dog wash, bike storage, a courtyard out back with the on-site parking out back as well. Along with the on-site parking, there will be diagonal street parking around the block. RDA provided $3 million in state READI 2.0 funding. Millworks was tentatively scheduled to start earlier this summer. The award of state money has just been slow everywhere around Indiana, Anderson acknowledged, so now the money is starting to be released, projects like Millworks are getting underway.

Asked why downtown Warsaw was chosen for Millworks, Anderson responded, “We are downtown developers. I think half of our projects are literally on Main Street in the towns that we are in. We do a lot of big historic rehab, and when we’re not doing historic rehab, we build new construction – high-quality new construction – where something used to be, like a grocery store or a factory or lumber mill – to bring back that vibrancy and to fill in the missing teeth in downtown.”

Housing Needs

When it comes to filling Warsaw’s housing needs, Skinner said Millworks is a segment of that.

“It’s not all of it, but it fills the segment of affordable market-rate apartments, which is a segment we’ve been trying to fill,” he said. “We’ve got projects that we’ve done – affordable housing rentals and this is a market-rate rental. The Buffalo Street is a market-rate rental project, once we get that rolling. So we’re just hitting different segments and this is that workforce housing segment that we’re trying to hit. So it’s 80% and above of AMI.”

The impact of the housing downtown will hopefully be a positive one, he said.

“You put people where you want them,” Skinner explained. “That’s why this project is incentivized: Put them downtown, it helps your commercial, your retail, your restaurants. It helps to continue to grow Warsaw, and it increases our density, which is key as we continue to figure out how we continue to maintain all of our infrastructure. The more people per square mile, the easier it is to maintain that infrastructure.”

Thallemer jumped in, saying, “This is property we had our eyes on when the supermarket left. The moment it became available, that was the whole thought, that it would expand our downtown – urban core, if you will. We had a great opportunity to get it done.”

He thanked Rob and Nancy Gast for being excited about the project and being willing to sell the old Tarkio Road bicycle shop. Thallemer also acknowledged Owen Emerick for creating the grocery store the community revolved around for many years.

“And I know when they left we talked about it. This has to remain a viable entity in our downtown,” Thallemer said. “… The whole idea was our expansion of that downtown footprint. We’ve got the bike trail here. HopLore invested several years ago.”

While Millworks may make the downtown feel a little bigger, Skinner said the intent is to create housing opportunities, create density and support the downtown, which the project does. Friday said it also creates walkability to the downtown.

“I think that people living here will have a bigger sense of community, to get involved in the community. They’ll feel more like doing that, and so we hope that this project will be a catalyst for more to come,” she said.

The project being completed in a year’s time meets a need of the city.

“We have a need real quick, because, if you remember, Slate Auto will be opening at the end of ’26 for full production. So we really want those folks to live here and be engaged in the community. Spend those dollars here in our community, rather than leave the county,” Friday said.