Business First reported today that Iron Quarter developer Todd Blue claimed his company, Cobalt Ventures, is in talks with “a large office tenant that could anchor the development and allow work on Iron Quarter to move forward.” The $50 million proposal would tear down two thirds of a block of historic buildings, but save their Main Street facades. Inside, a luxury retail lifestyle center and parking structures would sit below a 12–14 story office tower.
Blue said the project is not dead but if the unnamed interested company “does not sign a lease… he would ‘re-evaluate’ the project.” Meanwhile, the stretch of four-story brick buildings continues to sit boarded up and deteriorate. If the Iron Quarter doesn’t pull through in the end, water pouring in from the uber-leaky roof could destroy future prospects of the block.
