March 27, 2018 - Mayor Tom Henry joined representatives from Miller-Valentine Group and Vincent Village today to tour two recently completed single-family homes located on Winter Street. The homes are part of the Bottle Works Lofts development in southeast Fort Wayne.

The $14.5 million affordable housing development includes 19 lease-to-purchase single family homes, each with a detached garage, located throughout the Renaissance Pointe neighborhood. To date, 15 homes are already pre-leased.

The development also includes the historic rehabilitation of the former Coca-Cola bottling facility, 1631 E. Pontiac St. The building will house 31 affordable rental units, on-site management office, community room, business center, media room, fitness center, outdoor shelter and indoor and outdoor playgrounds. Demolition and abatement in the main building is complete and framing is now underway.

The homes at Bottle Works Lofts are being built on vacant lots previously owned by the City of Fort Wayne. The City also previously owned the Coca-Cola building, which was constructed in 1943 and purchased by the City in 2012 with the intention of redeveloping it.

Miller-Valentine Group and Vincent Village are co-developers of the project with Vincent Village acting as the supportive service provider, helping link tenants up with area services and programs.

Many organizations, financial institutions and government agencies are investing in the Bottle Works development, including the City of Fort Wayne through dollars provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD); the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority through federal low-income housing tax credits; PNC Bank through federal historic tax credits issued by the National Park Service; Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis; and Old National Bank. Martin Riley is the local architect working on the project.

The rental units in the Bottle Works Lofts building are on track to be complete by the end of 2018 and all 19 single-family homes are scheduled for completion by the end of this summer. Leasing information can be found online at: https://yournextplacetolive.com/affordable-apartments/bottle-works-lofts/