Fort Wayne has created the Everyone Home plan to address homelessness in the area, Mayor Tom Henry said during his State of the City address Wednesday.
Everyone Home is a project through Fort Wayne’s Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services and other local partners to prevent and end homelessness in the city.
Henry said after his speech that the community has a homelessness problem and a lack of affordable housing issue.
“We’ve tried to put together some aggressive plans to help address affordable housing and for the homeless population,” he said. “For instance, we’re looking at some new housing opportunities.”
Henry said city officials are looking into tiny homes and investing in the new container home initiative.
“So, we’re taking a look at all of those (options) and put together a program where now we have a committee examining all of those continuing to do site visits, trying to determine what’s the best approach for Fort Wayne,” he said.
Fort Wayne is also exploring the possibility of introducing new housing options and promoting infill housing development by providing shovel-ready sites, Henry said during his address.
“Housing strategies are a major focus for us because we need to increase the availability of affordable housing,” he said.
Several housing developments are planned to be finished or begin this year, he added.
In the southeast quadrant, Village Premier is a mixed-income neighborhood development expected to bring more than 200 apartments and nine houses this summer. This is only the first phase of the development, Henry said.
Construction on Roosevelt Reserves, the first market rate housing development in roughly 50 years in southeast Fort Wayne, continues, Henry said. The site near Tillman and Hessen Cassel roads will build 49 single-family houses in its first phase.
“By attracting new owner-occupied households, families will be able to build wealth through homeownership and stimulate further investment,” he said.
The Lofts at Headwaters Park at Clinton and Superior streets plans to open its parking garage this year, and the entire project will be completed next year, Henry said. The development will include residential and retail space along with the garage. The Lofts project is expected to have roughly 200 apartments and 15 townhomes.
Henry said the city is projecting Public Works will invest nearly $50 million into neighborhood projects throughout the entire city – $10 million more than last year.
Public Works has invested nearly $300 million since 2014 in neighborhood infrastructure, Henry said.
Beyond housing developments, the city continues to build in other ways.
“I’m ready to embark on a new journey filled with projects and opportunities and a promise for a better tomorrow,” Henry said.
Phase 2A connecting Promenade and Headwaters Park and opening the riverfront at Promenade Park to mixed-use development was completed last year. Construction will continue this year for the next phase of riverfront public space that will extend to the north side of St. Marys River between Ewing and Clinton streets.
Henry said continued riverfront development is the project he is most excited about for this year.
Work began on More Brewing – a restaurant and brewery that is anticipated to open next year, Henry said.
Along Main Street, the Ashberry will open soon. The seven-story development features commercial and retail space, public parking and corporate headquarters for STAR Financial Bank, Henry said. The Pearl – a mixed-use development also on Main Street – is anticipated to finish construction this year.
Henry said roughly $1 billion has been invested in the heart of the city in the last decade, and another $1 billion is projected to be invested over the next 10 years.
“There’s no question, I continue to be optimistic about Fort Wayne’s future,” he said.
Henry thanked Greater Fort Wayne for its work to bring developers to the city last year. Greater Fort Wayne helped bring 11 companies that plan to invest more than $45 million in the city, he added. The investments led to 184 new jobs and 405 retained positions with an average wage of more than $80,000, Henry said.
He also thanked Visit Fort Wayne for efforts to annually bring more than 8 million visitors to the city. Visitors have spent nearly $1 billion each year and helped support more than 13,000 local jobs, he added.
Henry said after his speech that when he first became mayor in 2008, he recognized the importance of downtown development. Projects including Parkview Field – which will soon celebrate 15 years – were catalysts to increase development in the area.
“The city of Fort Wayne continues to amaze me… I knew some positive things were coming (when I became mayor) and we were going to be a part of that, but after 16 years that momentum has not stopped,” he said. “It continues to astound me how the citizens of Fort Wayne refuse to stop.”
