Work progressing on downtown apartments
ANDERSON — Work is progressing on projects that will bring 74 apartments into the downtown area.
The apartments being built by BWI Construction just south of the iconic Anderson Wigwam are expected to be completed by the end of August.
The new development will be called the Home Court at the Wigwam.
Bryce Riggs, superintendent of the project, said Monday crews are currently installing electrical and plumbing systems.
He said a roofing crew is to start work in May, which is when the interior drywall will be installed.
BWI through its new company Building and Impacting Communities Inc. plans to construct a $12.9 million building.
The project was awarded $1.2 million in tax credits and $750,000 in development funds over 10 years by the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority.
The plan is to construct an L-shaped building with 20 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom apartments.
Ten of the apartments are expected to be made available for public housing vouchers.
Additional apartments in the area above the Jane Pauley Community Health Center are also planned.
That development would be known as Courtside.
BWI opened the 44-unit Fieldhouse Apartments in 2019 at a cost of $12.2 million; the 130-unit, $23.5 million Sweet Galilee complex opened in 2022.
The historic Wigwam has been closed since 2012, and on several occasions its future was unknown.
There was a group of investors interested in obtaining the building in 2014, but the deal fell through when the financing could not be arranged.
With the Anderson Community Schools Board of Trustees poised to demolish the gym and adjacent classrooms, a last-minute agreement was negotiated involving the school system, the Anderson Economic Development Department and BWI Properties of Indianapolis.
Those negotiations resulted in Wigwam Holdings obtaining ownership of the building, along with the surrounding athletic fields and parking lots.
ACS provided $630,000 in an escrow account for repairs.
The Anderson Housing Authority is in the process of renovating the historic Lincolnshire Apartments.
Kevin Sulc, director of project development for the Anderson Housing Authority, said crews from Fredericks Construction are in the process of completing the interior demolition.
He said all the asbestos in the building will be removed this week and work will start on the interior framing.
'We're awaiting final approval from the state on the final design for the project,' Sulc said. 'The next major work on the project will be replacing all the windows.'
He said the building should be ready for occupancy next March.
The $4.5 million project will convert the Lincolnshire Apartments, built in 1927, into 21 one-bedroom apartments and nine studio apartments.
The housing authority was recently awarded $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds from the city of Anderson for the project.
'All the financing is in place,' Sulc said previously. 'We have received a $3.5 million construction loan from Star Bank.'
The Anderson Redevelopment Commission is providing $770,000 toward the project, using tax increment financing money to pay off a bond for the purchase of the building.
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