Jasper RDC moves Indiana Furniture apartment project a step closer to $1 million in TIF help
The Jasper Redevelopment Commission approved a resolution to add Woodworks LLC’s redevelopment of the former Indiana Furniture building to the city’s central TIF area economic development plan. The vote is one step toward roughly $1 million in tax increment financing for the project.
The commission passed declaratory resolution RDC 2026-6 at Tuesday’s meeting. City Attorney Renee Kabrick explained the resolution adds the Woodworks project to the Central TIF plan and removes projects that are already finished and no longer need TIF money.
By adding the project to the TIF plan, the city can move to create the conditional expenditure agreement that would allow a little over $1 million in TIF funds to be slated for the project. The city has used this type of agreement before. Kabrick told the commission the city used one for the University Heights development.
The project, Woodworks LLC, is being developed through a partnership between Premier Property Management and Krempp Construction.
Nick Lawrence, who presented remotely for the developers, said the project is now budgeted at $16.5 million. Plans call for 64 market-rate apartments: 28 one-bedroom and 36 two-bedroom units. Lawrence put the average rent at $1,075. The plan also includes up to 50,000 square feet of commercial space.
The apartments would fill the historic red-brick, U-shaped section of the building, on all four floors. The cinder-block section along 13th Street would become commercial flex space. Ted Krempp, who attended in person, said about a third of the building would stay undeveloped for now. The lot is platted for future development.
The project won $3 million in Lilly Endowment blight funds through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Lawrence said. That grant requires a one-to-one local match. The developers are counting the TIF money and a separate property tax abatement toward that match.
Lawrence told the commission the Woodworks project is the only project in the Indiana Uplands region to receive the Lilly blight money, but the building’s historic significance helped them secure the funds.
“They really, really love this project because it retains the historic nature of the building,” Krempp said. “I think we all probably have some relatives that might have worked for this company.”
But developing a historic building this size is costly.
“It is cheaper to probably knock it over and build up something simpler,” Krempp explained. Without the public match, he said, the project “doesn’t pencil out in terms of numbers.”
Regarding the conditional expenditure, the TIF money would not be paid up front. Those funds would reimburse the developer for eligible public improvements over several years.
Commission member Laura Grammer asked how the $1 million would affect the central TIF fund. Kabrick said the city had Baker Tilly analyze existing obligations and the required coverage ratios. From that, Baker Tilly offered three options for using the TIF to support the project, and the city worked with the developers to come to an agreement within one of those options.
To meet the IEDC grant requirements, Lawrence said the team aims to finish design and financing by the end of 2026 and start construction in early 2027. Heavy construction would run through early 2028, with leasing in the third and fourth quarters of 2028.
The developer’s contract with the IEDC requires “substantial completion” before the end of 2028, Lawrence said. He said extensions are possible for force majeure or by mutual agreement.
The three attending members of the commission, Grammer, John Schroeder and John Kahle (virtually), approved the resolution unanimously.
Along with the conditional expenditure, the developer is seeking a tax abatement to meet the matching funds requirement. The Economic Development Commission recommended the tax abatement last month, and the Common Council passed a declaratory resolution at its last meeting. A public hearing and confirmatory resolution are set before the council in October.
The commission also heard an update on the downtown restrooms from Heart of Jasper Director Kate Schwenk. She reported that new public restrooms on the courthouse square are open and were partly paid for with $25,000 in RDC downtown activation funds. The new bathrooms are located in Piano Alley.
