New Albany’s downtown apartment complex is moving forward. The so-called Coyle Project comprises two blocks of Spring Street and calls for restoring a historic two-story structure in addition to building two new-construction buildings. The $16 million project, developed by Indianapolis-based Flaherty & Collins, will bring nearly 200 apartments to the core of New Albany on a site that has been surface level parking for decades.
Under the plan, a large portion of the site will remain surface parking, but three- and four-story buildings will line the blocks’ perimeter. The design of the complex was handled by Indianapolis-based firm Cripe.
The New Albany Redevelopment Commission (NARC) recently approved public financing for the project. Indiana Governor Mike Pence previously awarded the project $3.3 million in tax credits through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Officials capped public contributions at $4.9 million, according to the News & Tribune. These public funds have drawn criticism from others in the community who are calling the move a form of corporate welfare. Critics include mayoral candidate Roger Baylor, who has been keeping tabs on the process in his blog, NA Confidential.
The city also announced that the building will be Southern Indiana’s first residential complex with gigabit high speed internet. “We hope to entice…young professionals to our area by making investments in important technology infrastructure like gigabit-speed internet,” David Duggins, New Albany’s Director of Redevelopment & Economic Development, said in a statement.
The project’s apartments will be located in the new construction buildings while the former Coyle Dodge building will include 6,000 square feet of retail and office uses. No retail is planned in the new buildings. Other amenities include a pool and community spaces and rents will range from just under $800 to $1,200 a month.
Construction is expected to begin later this summer and wrap up about 18 months later.
Nothing special unfortunately.
But a vast improvement over what is there now. Certainly another step in the right direction for New Albany.
A sad time for New Albany as it continues to ignore its fundamental infrastructure in favor of forcing those who live in nearby $35,000 shotguns to subsidize private bocce ball courts and the like for a largely imaginary population of “young professionals”. The proposed rent levels are higher than what’s being charged for Louisville riverfront units. The public is paying for more than half this development in total and, because of the way the deal is structured, it won’t contribute to the property tax base for 20 years while any resulting tax increases will be borne mostly by those who can’t afford them. This is the opposite of revitalization.
As much as I like the idea of nice apartment buildings in a revitalized downtown New Albany, that rent seems astronomical. I just left Chicago after four years there, and my rent was less than this in two of the three apartments I rented. If they’re going to subsidize this with public money, why not subsidize the rent for people who might actually need that kind of help? Corporate welfare, indeed.