City, developer break ground on apartment project
ELKHART — A private developer and the city broke ground on a project that will bring much needed affordable housing to the city.
'It's very important for us to understand that Elkhart has a need for housing,' Mayor Rod Roberson said Tuesday during a ground-breaking ceremony for 515 East Apartments. 'So do most communities, but I mean this throughout the spectrum. We bring in 35,000 to 40,000 people a day from different counties that really want to live closer to where they work.'
The project by RealAmerica Companies, located on 515 East St., is a mixed-use development comprising 48 units of income-based housing. There will be one- and two-bedroom apartments in a four-story building. The development will feature a variety of spacious floor plans, and each unit will have a balcony or patio.
The total development cost is $14 million, which equates to about $300,000 per unit, said Mike Surak, president of RealAmerica Companies.
'We first started looking for property in Elkhart in 2022,' Surak said. 'We've developed in South Bend, Warsaw, Fort Wayne, so we've had a footprint in Northern Indiana for quite some time now and we've just heard about all the activity that's happening in Elkhart. So when we first came to town looking for development opportunity ... the occupancy was 99.1 percent, so it was clear that there was a need for housing at that time.'
515 East Apartments is partially funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and received an allocation for funding from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA). The city contributed to the project by providing a forgivable loan and building fee waivers. The IHCDA further assisted with a loan from the Affordable Housing and Community Development Fund.
Rents will be based on the area median income (AMI) and serve households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.
'There's a range of affordability from 30 percent of the area median income to 80 percent of the area median income, which we think captures a good range of affordability levels, depending on certain household incomes,' Surak said. 'It's all income-based, so it's all driven by what a particular individual or family earns annually as a household.'
The apartments will also include a roof-top deck and garden, and community space with a lounge, kitchen and fitness center. There will also be a dog park and dog wash station.
The development site is in an ideal location for housing because it sits in a pedestrian-friendly area of downtown, developers said.
'We were really attracted to the site because of its central location in downtown Elkhart, and the walk within minutes to Main Street and restaurants and retail that they offer in that district,' Surak said, 'and then also all of the development that's been happening in the River District.'
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