To say buying University Square was a spur of the moment decision for Tadd Miller would be a lie. The president and founder of Milhaus Development has been thinking about it since his undergraduate years at Ball State from 1994 to 1998.
The Indianapolis-based real estate, development and consulting company purchased the nearly empty Village block for $1.29 million on April 15.
After Myles Ogea declared bankruptcy, Kicheol Lee bought the property at an auction at the end of February. When he did not close on it, University Square went to the next highest bidder which was Milhaus Development, said Martha Lehman, who represented a bank involved in the bankruptcy.
"This was a very mismanaged, messed up property," Miller said. "It was basically empty property."
Upon walking into a building with torn up carpet, ripped out cabinets, water damage and holes looking out to the street, Miller said he realized they had quite a bit of work ahead of them. They are hoping to finish construction on the 5,000 square feet of apartments, where most of the damage was in the building, within the next month.
"To let that happen, that's a horrible front door to the university," Miller said. "Especially when you can see it from the Administration Building, the [L.A. Pittinger] Student Center and during orientation."
Getting to know Milhaus
The year and a half old company is comprised of three Ball State graduates, Miller, Vice President of Finance Andrew Lahr, and Vice President of Pre-development David Leazenby, along with Indiana University grad Gregory Martin, vice president of development.
Miller described his company as a long-term owner of quality assets.
"We want to be able to look at our buildings in 30 years and be proud of what we built," he said.
Before founding Milhaus, Miller co-founded City Centre Associates, which developed many of the condominiums and apartments on and around Ohio Street in Indianapolis.
"We're really focused on urban infill and helping recreate [and] rebuild neighborhoods that have had their fair share of issues over time," Miller said.
While their new acquisition doesn't quite fit the condo category, University Square and the Village have certainly had their fair share of issues.
When Miller first stepped foot on campus for a summer program his junior year of high school, he said he remembers a Village full of people and activity.
"We went to Greek's Pizzeria the first day we were there for orientation and that was kind of my front door to the university," he said.
Leazenby, who worked at a copy shop in the Village during his time at the university, said the Village was filled with additional restaurants such as Buffalo Wild Wings, LaBamba and the Flying Tomato.
"My experience was completely opposite of what the Village is today," he said. "And I think that's one of the reasons why we're attracted to it."
The Future of University Square
With 29,000 square feet of space, University Square is home to Dill Street Bar, Oh! Japanese Fusion, 420 Underground and six unused apartments.
Milhaus said they hope to make announcements sometime by early fall as to what will go in the empty storefronts. They are already negotiating with several potential tenants.
"Tenant relationships are very important," Miller said. "That's the life blood of what's going to bring that center back. It's not about the real estate that's there specifically. Real estate's not anything to write home about."
Their ideal tenant would not just produce night time bar activity, but attract people during the day. With its indoor and outdoor seating and availability for lunch, dinner and drinks, they look to Scotty's Brewhouse as a prime example.
The foursome is also looking into getting a tenant focused on clothing retail.
With a Ball State intern working for them over the summer, Milhaus has a student opinion available on what should go in the area.
"Bars. Lots of them." Jacob Dietrich joked.
In reality, the senior urban planning major, has similar goals for the square - good, cheap places to eat.
Fixing the Village
"You could compare it to a city and say the health of a city is only as healthy as its downtown," Leazenby said. "The health of a campus
and university is only as healthy as its village, as its student oriented retail area. If you're turning your back to that, you're ignoring one of the greatest assets you have to a campus."
But bringing the Village back to life requires more than just new ownership and a flourishing University Square.
"The Village needs to be more pedestrian friendly to bring back the families in the community," Be Here Now owner Whitney Lewis said.
Lewis, who suggested getting a small grocery store in the area, said slowing down traffic and getting the large trucks to stop rumbling through would help the area become more people friendly.
"Fixing University Square isn't going to be the thing that transforms the Village at all," Leazenby said. "It's one small piece of a larger puzzle."
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