Sustainable Land Development Today - November/December 2007 - (Page 35) ed for salvaging and reuse to minimize costs. Street pavements and alleys were selectively removed and replaced, or milled and resurfaced. Concrete and other materials were crushed on-site and recycled. Stone curbs were selectively salvaged and reused. Portions of storm sewers inlets and manholes were reconstructed to improve without adding extensive new inlets. Street pavements and alleys were selectively removed and replaced, or milled and resurfaced. Concrete and other materials were removed, crushed on-site, and recycled. that was removed stone curbs were selectively salvaged and reused. Portions of storm sewers, inlets, and manholes were reconstructed. Broken sidewalks and curbs were replaced. New ADA accessible ramps were placed at all crossing locations. Each of the new homes needed new utility service line laterals for sewer, domestic water, gas, electric, telephone and cable. Where possible and cost-effective, with cooperation of the utility companies, existing overhead utility lines were placed underground and new below-grade services were provided to the new homes. New utility services were placed during infrastructure reconstruction so that newly surfaced streets and alleys would not need to be cut and patched as the new homes were constructed. Kevin K. Parsons & Associates, Inc., as a sub-consultant to Woolpert, provided the landscape architectural design services for the tree-lined streets, extension of the city’s Fall Creek Trail, creation of landscaped open space areas with four new neighborhood parks, neighborhood gateway columns, and new street lighting. Extensive phasing plans for the sequencing of construction operations and maintenance of traffic plans were prepared to minimize impact on daily commuter traffic and to maintain access to existing homes and new home sites. The sequencing plan was detailed in construction documents to allow infrastructure reconstruction and home construction to proceed simultaneously for the nearly $12 million of construction improvements financed by municipal bonds. Jennifer C. Green, assistant administrator for the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, steered the project to a timely and successful completion within budget. Mansur managed and coordinated the selected private builders during the construction of the nearly 420 new homes and townhomes. Of the first 300 homes, 51 percent of which were available for ownership by households at or below 80 percent of the area median income. On completion of Phase 4, now near completion of construction, an additional 120 new single-family homes, and townhomes and 10 rehabilitated homes and condominiums will be available. It is estimated that total home sales will exceed $60 million in the original three phases, and total new household income created by the new homeowners will approach $20 million annually. The neighborhood will also add $1.2 million to the local tax base. Moreover, it is notable that Fall Creek Place has had no foreclosures, remarkable given the neighborhood’s high concentration of first-time homebuyers, including low- and moderate-income households. Indeed, HUD considers Fall Creek Place a sound model for similar public-private revitalization efforts elsewhere across the nation. Moreover, the Fall Creek Place project has won numerous awards, including the National League of Cities – 2006 Silver Award for Municipal Excellence; the Urban Land Institute’s 2004 Award for Excellence; Professional Builder and National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 2004 Best in American Living Award, Best Smart Growth Community; American Planning Association’s Outstanding Example of Smart Growth in Urban Revitalization (2003 Current Topic Award); and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2003 Homeownership Zone Award: Outstanding Use of Public Funds to Leverage Private Investment. On its web site, www.fallcreekplace.com, Fall Creek Homeowner’s Association succinctly captures the revitalization that has resulted from the efforts of a broad partnership of public and private organizations to bring a blighted innercity neighborhood back from the brink: “Fall Creek Place is a community of hard-working families and well-acquainted neighbors, sharing in the dream of homeownership, and enjoying the active and diverse surroundings that come with downtown living.” SLDT About the author: James Miller is a Senior Project Manager of Woolpert, Inc. in its Indianapolis office. He can be reached at 317-299-7500 or jim.miller@woolpert.com. Circle 171 • or www.SLDTonline.com/adinfo www.SLDTonline.com 35 http://www.woolpert.com http://www.woolpert.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/adinfo http://www.SLDTonline.com
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