Kokomo — Demolition of the old Kingston Products plant on North Webster Street could begin as soon as next year, as plans for a new, affordable housing development are moving forward. Mecca Companies Inc., Michigan City, is looking to build a 65-unit complex on the area where the plant, closed since 1989, now stands.
The area covers two city blocks bordered by North Courtland Avenue and Preble, Kirk and Webster streets, and has long been considered an industrial blight.
The sheer cost of demolishing the buildings has prevented the city from cleaning up the property.
Mecca president Kyle Bach said Monday his company intends to apply for low-income housing tax credits to finance the estimated $8.5 million project. The application deadline for the credits is Nov. 1, and Bach said the next round of allocations will be announced March 1. If the Indiana Housing Finance Authority selects Mecca’s project for funding, demolition work at the site could begin late next summer or early fall, he said.
Plans include razing all of the existing buildings at the site, and building a mix of apartment buildings and townhomes.
The apartments would be consolidated in block buildings in the center of the project area, while the townhomes, similar in appearance to row houses, would border the site, Bach explained. Units would have either two or three bedrooms, and would probably rent for between $500 and $650 per month. Bach said.
Mecca has held discussions with the Kokomo Housing Authority about potentially directing some public housing recipients to the new development, if and when it is built.
Pending the approval process, the development probably wouldn’t be completed until mid-2012. The Kokomo Common Council passed a rezoning of the Kingston Property on first reading Monday. If no opposition to the project surfaces, the council is likely to pass the rezoning on final reading at the council’s Oct. 18 meeting, 7 p.m. in council chambers, City Hall, 100 S. Union St.
The rezoning would clear the way for a multi-family residential project to be built at the site.
In addition to the Kingston project, Mecca is also attempting to build an apartment complex along South Washington Street, just across from the Indiana University Kokomo campus.
That project is expected to be privately financed and has won support from both the Kokomo city administration and university officials.
Neighbors in the Edgewood subdivision roundly opposed the rezoning for the project over the summer, but the rezoning passed a city council vote by a 6-2 margin.
Bach has said the Washington Street development is being pursued with the intention of providing low-cost student housing close to the IUK campus.
• Scott Smith, Tribune staff writer, can be reached at 765-454-8569 or at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
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