Sustainable Land Development Today - November/December 2007 - (Page 34) PARTNERSHIPS Laying the Groundwork for Fall Creek Place Public/private partnership transforms a blighted inter-city neighborhood into a vibrant, growing mixed-income community. By James Miller For decades, a 32-block area, consisting of over 160-acres in the near north-side of downtown Indianapolis had deteriorated into a blighted neighborhood with fewer than 100 stalwart homeowners remaining among the unoccupied houses and trash-strewn vacant lots. In July 2001, with the initial help of a $4 million Home Ownership Zone grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of Indianapolis launched an ambitious public/private initiative to revitalize and reconstruct this formerly attractive and desirable neighborhood. The collaboration among the City of Indianapolis and its partners, the not-for-profit King Park Area Development Corporation (KPADC), the not-for-profit Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indianapolis (HLFI), and Mansur Real Estate Service, with the cooperation of local public utility companies, , private consultants and contractors has resulted in the revitalization of this neighborhood. Today, Fall Creek Place is a vibrant, growing, mixed-income community. A cost-effective infrastructure improvement plan helped to lay the groundwork for its success. of individuals and families of a range of socio-economic levels, with prices ranging from under $100,000 to almost $400,000. Homes were designed with frontage on the public streets and access to the garages from the existing alleys at the rear of the lots. Homeowner covenants also were developed. Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Committee approved tax-increment financing (TIF) for this new community, and selected local banks offered attractive financing packages and incentives for first-time homeowners to stimulate purchases by low- to moderate-income homebuyers. Advertising effectively was used to increase awareness and interest in the Fall Creek Place neighborhood. Cost-Effective Infrastructure Improvements The City understood that as a part of this revitalization they would need an engineering evaluation to determine existing infrastructure conditions and identify cost-effective infrastructure improvements needed that would avoid total replacement. Woolpert, Inc. provided the detailed topographic and utility surveys and engineering evaluation of the infrastructure. Over the course of a century, some of the area’s streets evolved into major thoroughfares with high-volume traffic during rush hour and major downtown events. The civil engineering design included the geometric re-alignment of street intersections to add bump-outs to reduce crossing widths for pedestrians, improve the curb radii for turning movements at intersections, provide protection for on-street parking, and provide improved traffic flow while providing traffic calming to improve both vehicular and pedestrian safety. Almost all of the existing infrastructure and utilities in this northside area were a century old. As a part of engineering, each element of the infrastructure was evaluat- Property Acquisition and Home Design In the initial steps and throughout each of the progressive phases of development, the City of Indianapolis worked diligently to acquire each of the possible vacant lots and unoccupied homes. As a part of this effort it was possible to salvage approximately 58 homes for reconstruction and re-sale in Phases 1-3. Through its Fund for Landmark Indianapolis Properties, HLFI stabilized and hasstabsrehabilitated the exteriors of a number of authentic historic properties dating from the Victorian and Arts and Crafts periods, investing reselling these to new owners at prices ranging from $30,000 to $122,000. Homeowners are were responsible for completing the interior renovations at costs ranging from approximately $60,000 to $150,000. Where structures had deteriorated beyond a cost-effective salvageable condition, these were demolished and removed. Cleared and cleaned lots created the land base for Fall Creek Place. The City and Mansur selected home builders to provide flexible building plans that were matched to the existing lot sizes and architectural design standards established for character, style and materials. Numerous housing designs and variations were developed to meet the financial capabilities 34 November/December 2007 Sustainable Land Development Today
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