Ground broken on former Coca-Cola plant redevelopment

By Alex Brown | Inside INdiana Business

Officials in Fort Wayne have begun construction on the $14.5 million Bottle Works Lofts project. The development will include the rehabilitation of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant, which will be transformed into 31 affordable rental units. 

The Coca-Cola building will also include an on-site management office, community room, business center, media room, fitness center, outdoor shelter and indoor and outdoor playgrounds, according to Mayor Tom Henry's office. The development will also feature 19 lease-to-purchase single-family homes.

Henry joined representatives from Miller-Valentine Group and Vincent Village for a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning.

"Miller-Valentine and Vincent Village are great partners in our work to revitalize southeast Fort Wayne," Henry said in a news release. “Over the last decade, the City, private sector and local non-profits have invested millions in new infrastructure, housing and community buildings in the Renaissance Pointe neighborhood and now we continue to move in the right direction with the construction of Bottle Works Lofts."

The Coca-Cola building was built in 1943 and was purchased by the city in 2012. The city also owns the vacant lots on which the single-family homes will be built.

Henry's office says the rental units in the Bottle Works Lofts building are expected to be complete by the end of the 2019. The single-family homes are expected to be complete by fall 2018.

The project is not the only one in the state involving a former Coca-Cola bottling plant. Plans are moving forward for the $260 million redevelopment of a similar property in downtown Indianapolis, which will be known as the Bottleworks District.