Developers Bet big on Small-Town Charm

Developers Bet big on Small-Town Charm

Developers Bet Big on Small-Town Charm

July 11, 2005 - Paraphrased Article from Indianapolis Star

By:  J.K. Wall

Duke Realty Corp. and Republic Development Corp. are building the type of massive, master-planned projects that have thrived in the Sunbelt but are nearly unknown in Central Indiana.

Between them, they will add 3,700 housing units to the metro area and millions of square feet of commercial space. They will be under construction for 15 years. Nestled in the middle of Saxony will be Simon Property Group's Hamilton Town Center, a 97-acre, $100 million open-air mall that will include offices and homes.

Republic believes in new urbanism. That style and philosophy of development abhors the patterns of modern suburbia: people living in subdivisions that are separate from the strip mall centers where they shop and from the offices where they work.

New urbanism tries to gather homes, shops and offices around a town center. It preaches smaller house lots, garages on alleys and front porches -- all to promote neighborliness. It tries to limit the need for cars and make a community "walkable."

"These communities can be homespun. New urbanism offers that, but also offers an opportunity for a hipper environment," said Republic president, Rick Arnos.

Republic is building Saxony in Hamilton County. Its research showed that the average household income within two miles of the project is $128,000. Within a five-mile radius, it's $110,000. Both are more than double the average Hoosier household's income -- $52,000 in 2000.

Republic saw that Fishers and Noblesville have experienced torrid growth. Fishers was adding more than 3,000 people per year in the 1990s and that has grown to nearly 4,000 each year, according to Census Bureau estimates. Noblesville is adding nearly 2,500 residents a year.

In spite of this growth, Duke and Republic say they couldn't do it on their own. The city of Noblesville and Boone County have approved $40 million in bonding to finance roads and sewers, parks and walking paths.

New urbanism tries to gather homes, shops and offices around a town center. It preaches smaller house lots, garages on alleys and front porches -- all to promote neighborliness. It tries to limit the need for cars and make a community "walkable."
 

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