Rezoning of complex gets OK of planners
Eden Green plan not final
Paul Wyche | The Journal Gazette
FORT WAYNE - City officials and a Cleveland company are ready to leave Eden Green apartment complex’s infamous past behind.
The Fort Wayne Plan Commission on Monday approved a rezoning request that will allow for the future development of townhouses on the property on the city’s southeast side. The City Council must give the project a final OK in coming weeks.
Heather Presley-Cowen, director of the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the city, has expressed confidence in Millennia Housing’s plan to invest at least $7 million in overall renovations.
“They have a good track record of turning properties around,” she said.
The 192-unit complex is located near Reed, Greene and Wallace streets and has a history of drugs and violence. Millennia plans to boost security with better lighting and cameras.
During a public hearing last week, homeowners in the area were skeptical. They said even if improvements are made, Eden Green could deteriorate again.
Millennia representative and architect Eric Maring said the company’s renovations will create change and the firm won’t be an absentee property owner.
“They don’t operate that way,” he said.
Millennia acquired Eden Green last fall. Presley-Cowen mentioned that when a U.S. marshal was shot at the complex in April, the company cooperated with authorities. The U.S. marshals and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were serving a warrant accusing Marcus Hayden of failure to appear in federal court.
Reports stated he started shooting from the hallway and an unidentified marshal was hit in the right leg. The injuries weren’t life-threatening.
Millennia is waiting to secure state tax credits for its low-income housing development. If that happens, Presley-Cowen said residents will probably be won over by what they see. Millennia should find out early next year if it will receive the tax credits, she said.
A renovated Eden Green, along with the nearby Renaissance Pointe development, is signaling a rebirth in the central city, boosters say.
Earlier this month, Renaissance Pointe officials said they had filled a 66-house rent-to-own building project, and city leaders said two more apartment developments in the area are possible. But each is dependent upon state tax credits.
Updates are not expected until February.
