Potential new housing to come to Vincennes Street
Jun. 28—NEW ALBANY — The city will likely see the addition of new housing in Uptown as New Albany looks to convert three sites on Vincennes and Locust streets.
The New Albany Redevelopment Commission approved a quote for the demolition of the three properties at its meeting Tuesday.
The properties at 1105 and 1115 Vincennes Street along with 1609 Locust Street were purchased by the city about six months ago, according to Josh Staten, New Albany's economic development and redevelopment director.
The three lots are across the street from New Albany High School. The sites are an empty parking lot, a vacant house and an old plumbing office.
While Staten said they are unsure what exactly will fill the lots after they have been converted, he thinks it could be some sort of residential property.
"I think there's a lot of potential for this site," he said.
Staten noted that there is a huge need for residential spaces in Uptown, and the city should take any chance to create those from a former empty car lot, a former empty plumbing facility or an older, out-of-date house.
The last set of seven townhomes built in the 800 block of Vincennes Street went off the market in less than two weeks, according to Staten.
"Which shows that there's a huge demand for residential, for ownership and for even more dense residential like a townhome project," he said.
Dan Cristiani Excavating Co. Inc. was recommended by the city to do the demolition and prepare the land for requests for proposals (RFPs) as they had the lowest bid at $75,160.
The commission approved the bid unanimously.
Commission president Irving Joshua was absent from the meeting. The commission still has to replace its fifth voting member after Jason Applegate left the board.
Staten said they will have a clearer idea of what will fill the space once the sites are renovated and the city puts out RFPs.
The commission also unanimously pledged tax increment financing (TIF) dollars to the construction of the new Twin Oaks firehouse.
The pledge was for a maximum of $2.8 million over the next three years. Staten said that a final cost of the project has not yet been determined but will only be paid for with the $1 million of American Rescue Plan funds and TIF money.
Staten said that the cost of the entire project will not exceed $3.8 million, and the city expects to use less than the $2.8 million of TIF funding.
The new firehouse will be built at 2557 Charlestown Road to replace the one now located at 1709 Twin Oaks Drive.
