St. Joseph County Commissioners Tuesday took a step toward encouraging more than $180 million in new private investment on the northern edge of the Notre Dame campus.
Developers for years have planned to build new apartments and retail at the corner of Douglas Road and State Road 933 north of Notre Dame. The project is finally coming into fruition. County Commissioners Tuesday designated a new property tax incremental financing, or TIF area.
Indianapolis-based Buckingham Companies, which manages The Foundry apartments in Eddy Street Commons, plans to build 374 apartments at Douglas and 933, along with ground-floor retail, at an estimated cost of $105 million. In two other projects near the corner, Buckingham plans 114 two- and three-bedroom rental townhomes at a cost of $56 million, along with 77 senior living apartments to be built for about $23 million.
Commissioners also designated a site further north on 933, near the Toll Road overpass, the site of a former hotel and the Gipper Lounge. Developers will spend an estimated $5 million to ready that site for new commercial use.
In a TIF district, new property tax revenue is captured to pay for things that will promote more development in the area, such as new streets and sidewalks. Commissioners have collectively dubbed all four sites, which they’ve connected by 933, the Northern Edge Economic Development Area.
