NEWS

Fort Wayne Factory Headed for New Use

A team of developers plans to transform Fort Wayne’s abandoned GE complex into a vibrant urban hub with cool industrial vibes.

Fort Wayne GE factory

Industrial Strength

Abandoned factories, vacant industrial dinosaurs, serve as poignant reminders of the state’s manufacturing history. For decades, these buildings have confounded cities, which often chose demolition as the solution to the problem properties. However, the pendulum is starting to swing in the opposite direction as savvy real estate developers target old factory buildings for mixed-use projects with cool industrial vibes.

In Fort Wayne, the former General Electric plant occupies 31 acres just blocks from the city center. Since the late nineteenth century, the collection of 18 buildings had been home to GE. Once the city’s largest employer, GE announced in 2014 that the plant would cease operations. GE may be gone, but it left behind a sprawling campus.

Within the past year, a development team composed of Cross Street Partners of Baltimore, Greenstreet Ltd. of Indianapolis, and Biggs Development of Decatur, IN acquired the site. Rebranded the Electric Works, the project will incorporate market-rate housing, retail, food service, a hotel, and a university center for higher learning in the historic GE structures. Electric Works’ 1.2 million square feet of floor space will create a city within the city, a Hoosier model for preservation and reuse of industrial buildings.

Fort Wayne GE factory rendering

City officials are working with the development team to finalize financing. A combination of private equity, bank loans, New Market tax credits, federal tax credits and government incentives will fund the $300 million undertaking. So far, developers have secured about $41 million in equity. The City of Fort Wayne aims to create a new Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) district to help push the project forward. Work is set to begin in this fall with the first phase to take three to five years.

“This one-of-a-kind campus has a rich history and an amazing future ahead of it,” notes Kevan Biggs of Biggs Development. “As one chapter of its history closes, we are excited to write the next chapter and move this campus forward as a key driver of economic and cultural activity for Fort Wayne and all of northeast Indiana.”

For more information, contact the Paul Hayden, director of Indiana Landmarks’ Northeast Field Office, 574-289-8861, phayden@indianalandmarks.org.

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