The Town of North Judson is taking steps to potentially redevelop a downtown property. A resolution to purchase the vacant lot at 205 and 207 Lane Street was recently passed by the town council. That’s where a building partially collapsed back in 2017, disrupting the downtown area for months until the town was able to complete the demolition.
Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe said the town has since been eyeing the property for possible residential and retail development. “This property was part of our Stellar [plans] last year, so this has been an ongoing matter, in terms of downtown development, and I got to thinking about, after we met and talked about this recently, thinking about our comprehensive plan and things that are in there, whether Stellar’s around or not, too,” Rowe explained. “It sort of gives us the ability to grow and improve our downtown as best we can.”
Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Larry Wickert discussed the possibility of combining the proposed project with housing proposals in Knox and Hamlet, to make them more likely to qualify for incentives from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
