Members of the City’s Housing & Neighborhood Services (HANDS) Board today toured five projects supported in part by the City of Fort Wayne’s federal housing dollars.
HANDS members toured and got updates on the following projects:
Vincent Village: This project includes the rehabilitation or new construction of six homes on the Vincent Village campus in the Oxford Neighborhood. Local homeless families will move from area shelters into the homes as they are completed.
Bottle Works Lofts: This project is a $14.5 million affordable housing development, which includes 19 lease-to-purchase single family homes and the historic rehabilitation of the former Coca-Cola Bottling facility, 1631 E. Pontiac St. The bottling facility will include 31 rental units, on-site management offices, a community room, fitness center and indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
Johnnie Mae Farm: The Johnnie Mae Farm is located at 2518 Winter St., and includes gardens as well as the renovated former fire station #9. The urban farm’s name pays tribute to long-time neighborhood advocate Johnnie Mae White. The building houses a commercial kitchen and serves as a community center, while property behind the building is used to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that are available to local residents at a farm stand that is open on Fridays through October from 4-7 p.m.
The Landing: The Landing is a $32.2 million project that includes the historic rehabilitation of seven buildings and construction of one new one along West Columbia St. Several of the 70 new apartments being constructed will be affordable units.
Superior Lofts: The Superior Lofts development includes renovation of the historic building at 102 W. Superior St. into 72 loft-style apartments and 21,000 square feet of commercial space and climate-controlled storage units. Several of the loft apartments will be affordable units.
HANDS (Housing and Neighborhood Development Services) is a community based board whose members are appointed by Mayor Tom Henry and the Fort Wayne City Council. It serves as an advisory board to the Mayor about how to best invest Federal funding to strengthen neighborhoods and serve low- and moderate-income residents.