MAYOR GRAHAM RICHARD
The City of Fort Wayne is one step closer to acquiring and developing the property at Southtown Mall. In late November, attorneys for Southtown owner Haywood Whichard did not object to the City’s condemnation filing. While the move came as a surprise to City officials, it is certainly good news for Fort Wayne. We will now proceed with the condemnation of this blighted property. Through condemnation, the City will be able to acquire the site at fair market value and resell lots to a developer to recapture the cost to buy the property. Our plans to redevelop the land will bring more jobs and economic development opportunities to the City’s south side.
The City and Mr. Whichard have until December 18 to submit their preferences for three new appraisals of the Southtown property. A judge will then set appraisal guidelines and the City will pay the average of the appraised values to take possession of Southtown Mall. Once the City has obtained the legal rights to Southtown we will begin an environmental assessment of the land. After that, we can demolish the building and prepare it for new development.
I announced last January that the City reached a Memorandum of Understanding with local developer Barry Sturges of Southtown Centre LLC. Southtown Centre LLC has reached a separate agreement with Menards to build a new store on the Southtown Mall property. One large retail facility like Menards will generate $1 million per year in sales tax and income taxes. It will also spur additional development, including retail stores and restaurants.
The area of Southtown Mall also has been designated as a Community Revitalization Enhancement District (CRED). By creating a CRED, the City will receive any new state sales tax and income tax revenue generated by this new commercial center up to $1 million per year for 15 years. This gives us $15 million of the taxes paid by Fort Wayne residents that would otherwise go to the State. This $15 million would be invested back into the CRED district.
This new revenue source will fund the construction of a Police, Fire and Homeland Security Training Academy at the old Sears building, which the City has already begun acquiring. The state-of-the-art facility will be a regional center for Fort Wayne and all of Northeast Indiana. Several local schools and universities have expressed interest in participating in the academy as well.
Residents who live in the south part of Fort Wayne know how important this project is to the community. Replacing Southtown Mall with an active commercial center will bring much needed state funding and possibly federal grants to Fort Wayne. This is in addition to the 500+ new construction and retail jobs and higher tax base that any new commercial center of this size would create. I am hopeful that redevelopment of the Southtown property will begin early next year.
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