With the approvals at this week’s City Council meeting, developers are expecting to close and break ground on The Mill at Ironworks Plaza phase two property sometime in mid-September.

News Release

MISHAWAKA — The Mishawaka City Council is ready to advance to the second phase of The Mill at Ironworks Plaza, a multi-million-dollar apartment complex, mentioned during its Monday, July 17 meeting. The Mill at Ironworks Plaza is situated in the city’s Beutter Park, with a clear view of the St. Joseph River.

The project’s first phase, developed and managed by Indianapolis company Flaherty and Collins Properties, opened for residential rental in 2019. The property is made of 232 apartments, and since opening, has improved the riverfront area with the creation of a community event center, ice skating rink and an outdoor biergarten.

The second phase of The Mill at Ironworks Plaza will be built 2.7 acres west of the existing apartments from the first phase of the project. Phase two will provide riverfront views, eateries and other outdoor luxuries.

The Mill at Ironworks Plaza’s second phase comes at a time of expansion in downtown Mishawaka. Some recent improvements include moving city offices to the former Liberty Mutual Insurance building, just a block south of The Mill, and the eye-catching growth at the Avalon. The Avalon is a 100-plus-unit studio apartment complex across the street from The Mill. Mishawaka city officials expect the building to be resident ready near the end of this year or at the top of 2024.

According to Mishawaka city officials, The Mill at Ironworks Plaza is everything they have been wanting in the riverfront development: architecturally significant and pedestrian friendly.

The Mill at Ironworks Plaza’s second phase project will create over 220 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The leases for these apartments will range from $1,100 to $2,000 per month. The amenities provided for apartment residents include a pet spa, fitness center, bike storage, and rentable private offices or co-working spaces. Included in the second phase project is 10,000 square feet in retail space which is expected to be shared between two, unannounced businesses.

Dave Wood, mayor of Mishawaka, expects the success of The Mill phase one to help spur expansion into luxury housing and hopefully position Mishawaka to be an option for young professionals, similar to Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina.

City leaders gave the go-ahead to create a new tax increment financing district and to issue city bonds which will be used to help finance the second phase of The Mill. The city will repay the bonds with the funds produced by the 25-year tax increment financing district.

Despite phase two being a smaller project than phase one, phase two’s total cost $63 million blows past phase one’s total cost. Mishawaka is contributing $13.6 million and land valued at $1 million for the project. Flaherty and Collins will invest $43 million in private funds and seek over $5.6 million in state redevelopment tax credits. City leaders assure the expensive is likely a result of increased construction costs. The first phase of the project was estimated to cost $42 million but increased to $50 million by completion. City leaders have secured assurances that project developers will absorb unforseen costs.

The apartments created in Phase One are already fully occupied, and quickly are rented when vacancies do occur. City officials report 80% of initial tenants moved to the complex from outside the Mishawaka area, and 30% of initial tenants came from outside of the state. Representatives from Flaherty and Collins report when residents leave their developments, about half do so to buy a house within the same area code of the development.

Ken Prince, Mishawaka’s executive director of planning and community development, calculated the tax revenue brought in by The Mill’s second phase over time will equate to that of a 400-unit housing development built outside of the downtown area.

City officials have reported a noticeable attitude change toward downtown Mishawaka after the successful The Mill’s phase one. The downtown redevelopment not only brings business to new restaurants like Sun King but to local gems like Doc Pierce’s Restaurant.

With the approvals at this week’s City Council meeting, developers are expecting to close and break ground on The Mill at Ironworks Plaza phase two property sometime in mid-September.