Levee continues to develop

By Heather Mangold
City Editor

More food and more fun are on the way to Wabash Landing.

Rolly Poly, a sandwich and wrap restaurant, a Kirlin's Hallmark store, Cellular Express, another University Spirit store and a Hilton Gardens Inn have all announced their intentions to base their homes in Wabash Landing, the multi-million dollar planned development in the Levee.

Construction for the Hilton Gardens Inn will begin next month, said West Lafayette Mayor Sonya Margerum.

The Hilton will not be the only place where people can rest their heads, however.

Apartments facing Tapawingo Drive and Brown Street are in the making.

"The goal is to finish the apartments by the end of this year," said Margerum.

Some of the one- and two-bedroom apartments, facing Tapawingo Drive, are closer to final completion and will be available for leasing within the next few weeks, said Stephen Belter, president of the West Lafayette redevelopment commission.

"The apartments being built along Brown Street should be finished by the end of the year," said Belter.

Businesses that are already running include a new Starbucks Coffee, Wabash 9 theatres and Panera Bread Company.

Panera Bread Company has been a welcome addition to Wabash Landing, with its record setting sales and its leadership among other Indiana stores.

Belter said some businesses are waiting for the walkway, which connects the parking garage and the retail section of the project, to be completed before moving their businesses in. He expects the walkway to be completed around the month of October.

Also, a major bookstore chain plans to come to Wabash Landing, said Belter, but which chain has not yet been announced.

Overall, Belter is pleased with the progress that Wabash Landing is making and said that things are going as well as can be expected.

"We've had a very good economy for a very long time and this has allowed us to do some serious development," said Belter.

Some challenges that developers face, however, have been the high density use of the property, with residences located on top of retail buildings, and building in a seven-acre downtown area where traffic levels are high and space levels are low.

"Seven acres sounds like a lot of space until you actually get all that stuff on seven acres," said Belter.

Even so, Belter said there are several advantages to adding this new development to West Lafayette.

"We've taken an old almost abandoned retail space and turned it into a very attractive multi-use space," said Belter.

Within the project, retail space has provided restaurants, entertainment and residential areas.

"From that standpoint, we've taken something that was ugly and unproductive and are turning it into a very nice multi-use space that attracts people to the area," he said.

In addition to improving the physical aspect of West Lafayette, surrounding areas are benefiting from the project.

"It's turning into a very nice urban area that complements Lafayette's downtown," said Belter.

He said Wabash Landing brings convenience not only to the residents of West Lafayette but now also citizens of Lafayette because of the opening of the 231 bypass.

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Levee continues to develop

CITY DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 250

City editor:
Heather Mangold

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