The City of Fort Wayne today outlined the next steps for the North River property.
The City now owns the North River property, which is comprised of 29 acres bounded by Clinton, Fourth and Harrison streets. The property serves as an important gateway into downtown and will be a complement to the positive progress being made with riverfront development efforts. The site was previously used as a rail yard and scrap yard, dating back to 1902. The land has not been actively used since 2006.
Last November, the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission became the title holder of the North River property, City Council approved assuming responsibility for any future environmental remediation, if required, at the site and the Allen County-Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board (CIB) approved a $4.63 million funding commitment to the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission to purchase the property. Property tax dollars were not used to purchase the property. Also last November, the City and Calhoun Investments, LLC completed the closing to make the transaction official.
Next steps in the process:
*The City is working with the Indiana Brownfields Program to receive a letter indicating the program is comfortable with the North River property being used for future development. The program may ask for some additional soil sampling work to be conducted. This is a customary practice when a site goes from one type of use to a different type of use.
*The City will issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to determine interest and expertise from the private sector for development opportunities. The RFQ will be available beginning Thursday, Feb. 8 at www.fwcommunitydevelopment.org. Once qualifications are reviewed, the entities that meet the qualifications set out by the City would move to a request for proposals (RFP) process to submit their formal proposals for development of the North River property.
*This year, the City anticipates moving forward to have the North River property rezoned to allow for future development that’s more compatible for the area than the previous industrial use.
*City leaders will continue to keep nearby neighborhoods and stakeholders informed about the North River development process as it moves forward.
The future use of the property will determine the necessary site preparation or remediation.
