A rendering of The Gatke Lofts, one of two buildings which will be constructed at the Gatke property near McKinley and Durbin Streets in Warsaw. Renders by Rebar Development.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Gatke apartment and mixed-use building project is one step closer to fruition.

During a May 1 meeting, the City of Warsaw’s Redevelopment Commission approved an agreement with Rebar Development, a real estate development company from central Indiana. Shelby Bowen, Rebar Development president; Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer; and Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation CEO Alan Tio attended the meeting.

Numerous concepts for use of the property, located near McKinley and Durbin Streets, have been presented to the commission since it first acquired the area in September 2003.

As a whole, The Gatke Project proposes the creation of two buildings: The Gatke Warehouse and The Gatke Lofts.

Rebar plans to rehabilitate the existing warehouse structure at the property, transforming the structure into The Gatke Warehouse, a mixed-use building for residential studio, office, restaurant, and lab spaces. Eight flex units will also be placed in the building, with those units able to be used for either residential or commercial purposes.

The Gatke Lofts will include 75 apartments with amenities such as a rooftop terrace, work-from-home lounge, café, conference room, fitness center, and bike storage. The site will also connect to trails in Winona Lake and downtown Warsaw.

Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner said the project is estimated to cost around $18.3 million, with the city contributing $3.3 million to the project. The city’s portion will be paid through $2.3 million in net proceeds from a city-backed TIF bond and $1 million in cash, with the cash being paid over a three-year timeframe. Indiana Economic Development Corporation will contribute $4 million in redevelopment tax credits toward the project and Rebar will contribute a minimum of $11 million in debt and equity.

Construction is currently projected to begin this August, with the project estimated to be complete by December 2024.

“In the agreement, the city has all kinds of callbacks and protections that occur both before we close and after we close,” said Bowen. “That is reflected in our project agreement. This allows us to make promises to each other but before we close, we’ll have a full set of plans and we’ll have a guaranteed maximum cost and our loan and financing in place. The project itself is awesome. I love it, I love the site.”

“I think it’s an exciting project,” said Commission Member Mike Klondaris. “So long as I’ve been involved, we’ve been trying to find something to do with that property and we had things come to us that fell through and finally, we have a great partner and a great idea.”

In other business, the commission approved an agreement with Retail Strategies LLC for professional consulting services on retail recruitment in Warsaw. The services would cost a total of $135,000 over a three-year period.

Toward the end of the meeting, Skinner asked the commission’s members to consider the possibility of beginning to meet twice a month due to the growing amount of business the commission has been handling. The commission asked Skinner to see if city hall’s chambers would be free at 4 p.m. on the third Monday of every month and bring the idea back to them at their next meeting on June 5.