Fences have gone up around the University Square block as plans for demolition move forward.
The city-funded $60 million project will destroy the University Square space, roughly 19,000 to 24,000 square feet, and replace it with a six-story garage, retail space and more than 200 apartments.
Todd Donati, the director of the Muncie Redevelopment Board, said internal work, such as removing asbestos from the propety, was the focus of the past few weeks, but taking down the entire structure will begin this week.
“We’re looking to have everything demolished and the ground pretty well flat dirt by the second week of July,” Donati said. “You’ll start to see some construction sometime around the first of August.”
He said the overall project should take ten to 11 months to complete. The garage will be built first, and the apartments and retail space will follow in September.
“It’ll hopefully be totally framed in by the end of the year,” Donati said.
There have been no reported accidents and Donati said there have been no major setbacks to the schedule. There were concerns that Ball State could disturb the project, but a meeting between Muncie mayor Dennis Tyler and Ball State officials in mid-June united the two entities in support of the plans, according to the Star Press.
The project, announced at the beginning of June, aims to respark activity in the Village. Investment Property Advisors have been working with Tyler and other leaders of the redevelopment board for more than a year, and Whittenberg Construction from Louisville and Garmong Construction from Terre Haute have been chosen as the developers.
Some businesses had expressed interest in the new retail space when the plans were revealed, but none have yet made a commitment. Leaders on the redevelopment team said a grocery area similar to a Trader Joe’s would be ideal for part of the space, giving students and locals a closer place to shop.
Marta Moody, executive director of the Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission, said the plans to bring new things to the area and the size of the area being redeveloped will be an asset to the Village.
“I will serve the same kind of function that an anchor serves,” Moody said. “I think that it will provide a very good base. I think the potential positive impact is huge.”
She said while it is still early on, the benefits of the plan can be seen.
“They appear to have been developed with an eye toward serving the needs of the students as well as providing a lot of attention to the aesthetics so that will improve the streetscape and the appearance of the Village and make it more of a desired destination,” Moody said.
While there was some dissent among the Muncie City Council when two members, Republican Brad Polk and Democrat Linda Gregory, voted against the plans, the project has been widely accepted and supported.
