500+ apartments could come to edge of Notre Dame campus. TIF district in the works.

ROSELAND — An Indianapolis developer is making plans for a prominent apartment complex with more than 500 housing units at the northeast corner of Indiana 933 and Douglas Road.

Meanwhile, a new tax increment finance district is in the works that would wrap around that 30-acre parcel, along with a stretch of Indiana 933 through Roseland. It would be known as the Northern Edge Economic Development Area.

Much of the revenue would go toward 25-year bonds that the developer would purchase to support its work.

But some revenue would also help the town of Roseland with whatever priorities that town officials set — for example, utility extensions, trail improvements, property acquisitions and so on, Bill Schalliol, the executive director of economic development for St. Joseph County, has told the county’s Redevelopment Commission .

But Clay Fire Territory Chief Jaren Kilian recently told the commission that, although he supports the TIF district, his fire department would need tax revenue to help pay for the 2% to 5% increase in demand that he expects in the new housing complex.

So, he asked the county to consider excluding the fire department from the TIF district, which, in effect, would allow it to capture its share of the tax revenue. Commission members replied that they would take time to consider that.

What kinds of apartments would they be?

The Buckingham Companies plan to build large, four- to six-story buildings at Douglas and Indiana 933, a project that officials estimate at $180 million. The site used to be housing for married University of Notre Dame students, but that has since moved.

Ryan Gallmeyer, the companies’ senior vice president of development, said that Notre Dame selected the company after putting out a request for proposals. He said Buckingham had previously built 650 units of The Foundry apartments at Eddy Street Commons.

Here, Gallmeyer said, Buckingham hopes to start the first phase of construction in the last three months of this year, which would create about 374 multi-family housing units and commercial space.

The second phase, he said, starting a year later, would build roughly 100 rental townhomes that could be two to three stories each.

And the third phase, yet another year later, would add 77 multi-family housing units for active residents age 55 and older.

The first phase would finish in 2027 and the whole project could be completed by 2028.

Gallmeyer said this market-rate housing wouldn’t lend itself to undergrads. And, although it’s at the campus' edge, it’s not necessarily targeting the campus community but, rather, the region. He cited its highway access to New Carlisle, where development is growing , and even LaPorte and Chicago.

Where would the TIF district be?

The Northern Edge TIF district would capture tax revenue within boundaries that include the Buckingham development. The district would then go north, tightly following the Indiana 933 corridor. It would end as it wraps around a parcel southwest of Indiana 933 and the Indiana Toll Road where a Holiday Inn was demolished and that is now owned by JSK Hospitality, which has development plans for it, Schalliol said.

The TIF district would be split into four areas. Three of them would pledge 85% of the revenue to bonds to assist the housing development. The remainder would come back to the Redevelopment Commission to help incentivize projects in that area, consulting attorney Phil Faccenda said. But 100% of the revenue from the fourth area, which is along Indiana 933 and the former Holiday Inn site, would be used in that area.

Faccenda said the bonds won’t affect the county’s debt.

The TIF district requires a long chain of approvals.

So far, the county’s Redevelopment Commission, Area Plan Commission and county council have approved a declaratory resolution on the TIF district, or the Northern Edge Economic Development Area.

The Redevelopment Commission also approved a confirming resolution for the district, which ultimately the county council will need to approve, likely at its Sept. 10 meeting.

Likewise, Schalliol said, the bonds will also go through a chain of approvals by the county’s Economic Development Commission , county council, Redevelopment Commission and again by the county council, also finishing on Sept. 10.

South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com .

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 500+ apartments could come to edge of Notre Dame campus. TIF district in the works.