Plymouth
Water Street Townhomes Update
I’ve been remiss in posting project updates, but you can always see what’s been posted in the past using the search box at that shows up on most pages. You can click here and see what’s been posted.
This project has had some struggles getting off the ground. Despite having funds from READI and the City of Plymouth to invest, getting a construction loan and securing permanent financing proved a challenge. Construction costs remain high and getting to an acceptable debt service ratio was challenging. We spoke to nine financial institutes before settling on Interra Credit Union for this project. Even after making that decision, the commitment process was slow. All of the financial institutes seem skittish about committing to long term financing in the current market.
We have made our first draw request to READI on January 15th and currently are being told it may be another 30-45 days before we see funds released. We made our first draw request to the City of Plymouth on January 8th to start the process for approval with the Redevelopment Commission meeting on the 21st, but despite approval there, the bond fiduciary has not released funds to us. It is hard to complain about the injection of funds that make this project possible, but the delays mean we will incur additional interest expense to cover costs until the payments come in.
We broke ground on the project December 17th, 2024. Those gold shovels have traveled to a lot of sites over the years! Mayor Listenberger asked us to delay actual construction until after Christmas to keep the parking lot open for holiday shopping. We literally broke ground December 26th, with excavation starting that day.
Excavation is mostly complete for the building footprint. We have been fortunate that most of the debris we have uncovered has been relatively easy to remove. As always, there was some “fun” stuff, like an active waterline that ran back under the parking lot, through the excavation, from Water Street before it was capped. That made for a muddy day before being resolved. As of now, footings are in place for the townhomes and a large percentage of the basement walls are complete. We should see basement waterproofing start this week and backfill shortly after that. We’re working through the framing shop drawings to get the wall panels released.
We are still looking for completion in late Fall of ’25. We would love to accelerate that if we can!
Water Street Townhomes Groundbreaking Article from Pilot News 12-19-24
Water Street Townhomes Groundbreaking
We had a groundbreaking ceremony for Water Street Townhomes on Tuesday. It was great to see support from the Plymouth Community. Mayor Listenberger, Clerk Treasurer Lynn Gorski and Council Members Don Ecker, Linda Starr and Dave Morrow also turned out. Mike Miley was there representing the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission. Plymouth City Attorney Jeff Houin was there and Taryn MacFarlane from the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership (SBERP). This type of infill development for this area has been part of Plymouth’s last two Comprehensive Plans, so we were pleased to be able to help bring it to fruition.
Housing affordability has become more difficult with the duel challenges of record inflation and interest rate increases over the last 4 years. While there are signs of moderation, they will continue to be a challenge for the near future. Inflation moderates, but continues to accumulate and rarely reverses. The Fed has lowered interest rates, but the mortgage market has done little to reflect the decrease.
We were please to partner with the City of Plymouth and obtain a READI 1.0 grant for this project. Infill housing has also shown up in the two current Marshall County housing studies being completed, so this is a timely addition to the City. We did not get all we asked for from READI, but without their contribution and the matching dollars from the city, the project would not pencil out. Even with that, this is a market rate project, not an affordable housing project. Because of the current inflationary market, the banks look more at the income generated than the loan to value of a project, i.e. another reason the State and Municipal participation is important.
This project is part of a trend towards more walkability and brings some additional rental property to downtown Plymouth. Catty-corner to River Park Square, it will be conveniently located for local festivals. The Mayor’s initiative to improve the festival space on Garro Street between Michigan Road and Center Street as well as his initiative to create a downtown Entertainment District, positions Water Street Townhomes to be successful and Water Street Townhomes will provide residents to attend these events, as well as frequent the existing local businesses and restaurants in the area. This site once was home to the Gem Theater, a predecessor to The Rees, a Doctor’s office and various other business entities through the last 100 years. It will be included in the new downtown entertainment district. We hope to encourage others to revitalize the back half of Plymouth’s downtown main street. Putting this historic block back on the tax rolls is a positive change for the city.
Culver Sand Hill Farm also submitted a townhouse project for Culver, Spirit Townhomes, which was named in the READI 1.0 Strategic Investment Plan. Unfortunately, after the fact, Culver chose to partner with a different developer on the much larger project, The Dunes. (Discussed here.) C’est la vie! Sometimes you reap what you sow. These small pocket developments are ones that can make an impact without as much culture shock to the community. A trend of these small projects would ease a community into the idea of expansion and make it easier to integrate new residents into the community – something to consider throughout Marshall County communities.
We look forward to making a positive impact with Water Street Townhomes and hope it is a catalyst for more downtown Plymouth development. The Plymouth Administration and Common Council have been supportive and a great partner. There is a need for 1,300 new housing units in Marshall County. Often big developments are jarring to the community. Small, infill projects such as this can make a difference and be placed into the community with only ripples instead of waves. They can also take advantage of existing infrastructure, be placed walking distance from amenities, and generally become part of existing neighborhoods. I hope this is the first of many similar projects in Plymouth and Marshall County.
IYKYK
For those of you unfamiliar with internet acronyms, IYKYK = If You Know, You Know. It’s generally used as a hashtag for an image with a second meaning, inside joke, or something else often hidden in plain sight. Despite having known Gary Neidig, ITAMCO and many of the Neidig family for decades, I was surprised by some of the things I learned about Gary and Robin at the MUAC (Marian University/Ancilla College) Changing Lives Scholarship Dinner at Swan Lake Resort last Thursday. I was there representing MCCF (Marshall County Community Foundation). I felt like I was out of the loop on the picture to the right. I wasn’t privy to the #iykyk meme, despite knowing Gary and Robin forever!
I’d always know the Neidigs as very family oriented. They are extremely dedicated to their family, their company and their Church. My father and I worked with Gary and his father and uncle for years doing work at the ITAMCO plant (then known as Indiana Tool and Manufacturing) and their Church, the Grace Baptist Church in Plymouth. My father and Gary’s Uncle Don did millions of dollars of work with only handshake contracts. We doubled the size of the Plymouth plant and built their world class office space. We helped them renovate and modernize the Grace Baptist Church, built the Christian School adjacent to the Church and later added the gymnasium to the school. We even did an addition to Gary and Robin’s house!
I knew that Gary had been drawn into some of the regional planning meetings through MCEDC in recent years. I served with him on the Marshall County Crossroads Committee and knew he remained involved and now chaired the next reiteration of Crossroads, One Marshall County. I served with him on the Plymouth Comprehensive Plan Committee as we updated the plan for a new decade. But at the dinner last week, I learned that there was much more he was doing behind the scenes in other areas. I was not surprised that Gary would be doing good things… He always has… I was surprised at how much there was in which I didn’t know he was involved. Much the same with Robin. I knew she was involved in the Church and school, but not the other things that came out during the award presentation.
It was a reminder to me that there are unseen layers to people all around us. Who among us hasn’t seen an award going to someone we thought was less deserving than others we knew. Maybe we shouldn’t be too hasty thinking we know everything. Gary & Robin were deserving of this award just for the things I knew they did, and then I learned there was so much more. There are no doubt others in our community involved to greater depths than many of us realize. Maybe some of those other recipients we heard about and questioned had impacts of which we weren’t aware. Maybe we weren’t in their circle of #IYKYK…
Housing Density Answers from the Past
March 17, 2025
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Culver, Plymouth
Affordable Housing, Community, Culver, government, housing, Multi-family, Plymouth, Workforce Housing
This is an interesting video with examples of multifamily housing on small lots (3 Flats) as seen in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco. It discusses some of the benefits as well as some of the drawbacks to this type of construction. It also briefly discusses some of the zoning barriers that were put in place to prevent this kind of construction.
It’s interesting that both Culver and Plymouth are looking into how to increase housing density right now, but are facing some pushback on the zoning changes that would be necessary to make this viable. Both communities seem to have active CAVE societies. I’m pretty sure every community has it’s own chapter. Years ago Erik Freeman and I proclaimed Culver’s unofficial motto to be, “Change is Bad; Even if it is Change for the Better”. Cast that as counterpoint to the underlying drumbeat for affordable housing.
Along with the basic zoning barriers, there are are other social and regulatory barriers that would increase challenges. Three story apartment construction would likely force the installation of fire sprinklers. Accessibility might need to be addressed due to the “walk-up” configuration with half a flight or more of stairs. Fire resistant construction between buildings would conflict with escape window requirements for bedrooms. All of these things would make the units safer and universally accessible, but would also drive up the cost. Meanwhile the three examples discussed are still in use in their respective cities; sometimes revered due to their place in the city’s history.
Greater density, even with the cost-increasing challenges listed above, does reduce costs of infrastructure, another big factor in housing affordability. Fewer linear feet of infrastructure is needed per dwelling unit. When this is done for infill properties, it makes better use of infrastructure, including roads, water lines and sewer lines. The one caveat to that is it may well increase impervious surface, further taxing storm water systems, though that is not a given. (They don’t have to be built cheek to jowl as was done historically, particularly in an infill situation.)
Reinventing the wheel can result in some improvements, but also can create some difficulties that were solved in the past. Looking back on what worked, may be part of our solution to the housing shortage problem as we move forward.
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