Ben Lanka has been a local government reporter at The Journal Gazette since 2004 and has covered city government exclusively since April 2006. He received his education at the University of Dayton and Northwestern University. Ben has attended dozens of meetings related to the Harrison Square project and is the primary reporter on the subject for The Journal Gazette. Feel free to comment on the postings here that relate to all aspects of the $125 million public-private proposal.
In case anyone has an interest in reading the actual tax abatement filings for the Harrison Square condominiums or hotel project, I have provided them in pdf format. Click the links below.
Hotel abatement
Condominium/retail abatement
The actual number of condominiums sold from The Harrison project seems to depend on who you ask. Greg Leatherman previously told me it was nine, but Jim Irwin, project manager with Barry Real Estate, recently told another news outlet it was only four or five.
Leatherman cleared up the discrepancy with an apology, saying he was told the wrong number. As of Friday, five people have completed deals to buy a condominium. He said there are more than nine people in the pipeline to buy the units as soon as some engineering work is done, but it wasn’t accurate to classify them as closed deals. Leatherman said he expected the number of sold condominiums to be closer to 20 in a few weeks.
Allen County Commissioner Linda Bloom made her feelings about Harrison Square known when talking with the Evansville Courier & Press in a story that ran Sunday.
While most of the story focused on the expansion of Memorial Coliseum – with the possible expansion of Roberts Stadium in Evansville – the story did mention Fort Wayne’s downtown development at the end.
Bloom told the newspaper that city leaders billed the project as a way to bring young professionals back to Fort Wayne, but she doubted the possibility.
“Would my children move back? No.” Bloom was quoted as saying. “Build it, and they will come? I don’t think so.”
Memorial Coliseum General Manager Randy Brown said he will have money in his 2009 budget to demolish the Wizards’ current facility on Coliseum Boulevard.
But that doesn’t mean it will be crushed to rubble as soon as the first pitch is thrown downtown. Brown said he is looking to get a few extra events in Memorial Stadium next summer, including a possible concert. He said the stadium will remain open through next spring in case the downtown stadium isn’t quite ready for opening day.
Brown said people should expect Memorial Stadium to fall in August or September 2009.
The Fort Wayne Board of Park Commissioners Thursday is expected to approve the design and budget for the public park portion of Harrison Square.
As previously reported, the $500,000-park will be mostly financed by a $300,000 gift from the estate of Robert E. Meyers, former Fort Wayne mayor. Additional park financing includes $150,000 in park bond money and other private donations.
Al Moll, parks director, said there will be special recognition of Meyers at the park, and it is possible it will be named Meyers Park at Harrison Square. The public park will include a small water area, small amphitheater, benches and landscaping. It will be open to the public when Fort Wayne Wizards’ games are not in progress, and will be used as part of the larger ballpark during games.
The public park will sit between the hotel and ball park, near the southwest corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street. Here is a sample of the park's design, click on the photo for a larger image.
Mayor Tom Henry and developers of The Harrison condominium building will provide an update on the project Tuesday morning. It is expected to include a tour of the mock condominium that will be used to help sell the units to potential residents of the complex. I’ll be providing more coverage on the event in Wednesday’s paper.
The delayed opening of the Courtyard by Marriott got a bit of an explanation at Monday’s Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission meeting. The hotel was originally to open in fall 2009, but now is expected to be complete by March 2010.
Greg Leatherman, redevelopment executive director, said the delay was mostly caused by a two month wait to complete plans for the connecting walkway between the hotel and Embassy Theatre. That delay meant the hotel would open in the winter, which didn’t make business sense for the company, as that is their slowest time, Leatherman said. Therefore, it will open the following spring, which is permitted in the hotel developer’s contract with the city.
Leatherman said the good news is a meeting with the hotel developers last week relieved any concerns about the project, as its designs are being integrated into the greater project.
People looking to move downtown to The Harrison condominiums should soon have the ability to touch what an actual unit feels like. Jim Irwin, project manager with Barry Real Estate, said a mock condominium should be ready for viewing next week at Martin Goldstine Knapke, the company selling the condos.
He said the company hasn’t really ratcheted up its sales pitch for the units, mostly because the mock condo isn’t open.
“If you were buying a condominium, you would want to see cabinet tops and everything,” he said.
The company got several people to put a refundable $1,000 deposit on the units, but the tougher challenge will be to convert those into sales.
The Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission will open the final 11 bids for the downtown stadium project this week. The bids are for an estimated $7 million worth of work, and city officials hope to get competitive prices after the recent high-priced electrical contract.
The bids will be opened 3 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council chambers, rooms 126 and 128 of the City County Building. The chamber is being used because of an expected high turnout from the large number of bids.
The contract bids to be opened are:
Masonry
Miscellaneous metals and handrails
General building construction
Roofing and sheet metal
Glass and glazing
Metal studs and drywall
Flooring
Painting
Fire protection
Playing field
Fences and gates
While the city’s redevelopment commission approved three stadium contracts unanimously, there was some discussion on the fairness of approving contracts that would be substantially changed.
The three contracts approved by the commission were done so with the understanding large changes would be made on each to reduce costs.
Newly appointed member Thom Obergfell asked if there is a point that a contract is changed so much that it would be more appropriate to re-bid the work. Commission attorney John Wernet said there is no legal guideline for re-bidding a contract where costs have been reduced, but he added re-bidding projects rarely reduces costs and often increases them.
Greg Leatherman, executive director of redevelopment, said to re-bid the contracts could also delay the work as the process can take up to 90 days. He said copper prices continue to rise, and that is a major part of the electrical contract, which was the one most over budget.
Copyright 2007 -- The Journal Gazette
