The first home built in the Lexington Village housing project served as the backdrop for a ribbon cutting and check presentation ceremony Wednesday morning. The ceremony was emceed by Bill Cuppy, president of the Logansport/Cass County Chamber of Commerce, and drew a large crowd that included Logansport and Cass County officials.
In his speech, Cuppy discussed a timeline of the project and where the money and support came from. Ownership was initially transferred in 2014, but it really took off in 2021, he said, when they partnered with Crossroads Engineers.
“We had them do some engineering estimates and at first glance we thought, ‘Oh my gosh,'” Cuppy said. “It was about $3.1 million and we thought, ‘How do we incentivize a developer to come here, build a bunch of homes and try to keep the prices affordable for our demographics and the home values that we have in the city?'”
After creating a TIF for the housing project and securing it to fund infrastructure, Cuppy said they ended up getting $1.6 million through the Rural Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI, program. They then sent out a request for proposal, to which Shepler Construction responded as the developer for the project.
“So we worked on a multi-month development deal to give them exclusive rights [to] “This development, unless a third party developer comes along and has the right plans, we will allow them to build a house here and there, but the exclusive development agreement is for these guys,” Cuppy said. “It’s been great so far.”
Infrastructure work is also being done by F&K Construction, and the goal of the project is to have 52 single-family homes on the site, Cuppy said. He said it’s moving much faster than the original schedule and acknowledged those who have helped along the way, including the City Council, Redevelopment Commission Chairman Mike McCord and Vice Chairman Jon Myckle-Price.
“With government, you can’t require everything to be local, that’s against the rules, but you can strongly encourage it,” Cuppy said. “The good thing about Shepler Construction, materials, subcontracting, almost everything is local. We’ve used local financing to do this, they stay local and that’s very much appreciated.”
Executive Director Steven Ray and Board Chairman Paul Wyman of the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council, or NCIRPC, presented a check for $1.6 million to the city of Logansport during the ceremony. According to a press release from NCIRPC, the goal of READI funds is to foster regional collaboration and data-driven, long-term planning that will attract and retain talent in Indiana. $500 million was distributed across 17 regions, with North Central Indiana receiving $30 million to complete projects in the region.
“We are excited to see the growth of housing opportunities here in Logansport,” Ray said in the release. “Housing and quality of amenities are important strategies for the North Central region and today we celebrate both.”
