Wagon Works set to open by end of July
Huntingburg’s newest housing development is set to open by the end of July.
Tuesday evening, Gary Ritz of the Indianapolis developer Paragus gave the Huntingburg Council an update on the Wagon Works workforce apartment development located at 419 N. Washington Street.
The 56-unit complex located on the site of the city’s original wagon works factory is the final Stellar Community project Huntingburg included in its application in 2014.
The new apartments range in price from $350 a month for a small studio to $599 for a two-bedroom unit. The apartment community is designed for individuals entering the workforce for the first time and is, therefore, income-restricted, meaning there is a maximum income a person or family can have to qualify to live there. Those income amounts are adjusted annually. For example, to qualify for a two-bedroom apartment in 2020, a family of four’s income cannot exceed $46,740 annually.
Tenants will pay for electric but Paragus covers water, sewer and trash pickup.
The apartments feature many amenities. All of the apartments, regardless of size, come with spacious closets and a lot of storage, a feature Ritz stated they felt would be important for tenants. Besides cavernous closets, each unit comes with a dishwasher, microwave, garbage disposal and hookups for a washer and dryer.
Wagon Works is pet-friendly and includes access to a pet bathing station as well as a fenced-in pet park. The pet bathing station is located in a clubhouse building on the property which also offers access to a few pieces of exercise equipment.
According to Ritz, the company has had to deal with a few issues during construction but they are confident all the units will be completed by the end of July with landscaping and finishing touches completed by mid-August.
While the pandemic has caused about a 30-day delay in finishing the project, he explained the poor quality of the soil was the biggest problem they faced. “(Based on the soil test) You would have thought there was no way those (brick and block factory) buildings could have stood for a 100 years,” Ritz said. “We saw these massive buildings and felt the soil had to be able to hold up our apartments because they are much less in weight, mass and volume than the buildings that came down. But that wasn’t the case.”
Tri-Cap partnered with Huntingburg to help develop the workforce housing as part of the Stellar Community plan. Paragus was chosen over two other developers that submitted proposals for the development.
According to Ritz, they were attracted to the area because of Huntingburg’s Stellar designation and the number of housing studies in Dubois County that supported the demand for the type of housing they could provide.
“We believed what the housing study said,” Ritz said. “That there was a need for rental housing for single people.”
Mayor Denny Spinner is ready to tie the ribbon on the final project included in the Stellar Community plan. “I’m very excited to see this happening,” Spinner said. “I see Paragus has a commitment to quality that is apparent in the development. This is a space people will be very comfortable in.”
Ritz reported they have had some inquiries about leasing units already. Prospective tenants can contact the company through their website or by calling 812-684-9800.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, the council approved issuing a $25,000 economic development grant to Paragus for having met the goals the grant required.
