Developing Fort Wayne’s North River Fieldhouse would not be the first sports facility or mixed-use campus for the two developers chosen as finalists for the project.
A Fort Wayne Redevelopment Advisory Committee this week selected Price Brothers of Kansas City and Related Midwest of Chicago as the two finalists to develop the fieldhouse that will anchor a mixed-use district.
The 160,000-square-foot fieldhouse, as proposed, will be designed to accommodate various indoor sports and activities, including basketball, volleyball, soccer and baseball.
Officials hope it will increase Fort Wayne’s visibility as a youth and adaptive sports destination.
The North River property is a 29-acre piece of land bound by Clinton, Harrison and Fourth streets. It was previously used as a rail yard and scrapyard dating back to 1902 and has not been actively used since 2006.
Alec Johnson, deputy director of redevelopment, said the finalists, which were among 20 applicants, have the expertise his team is looking for.
“That was one of the main things, I think, that enabled them to end up as finalists,” Johnson said. “It’s really exciting to understand that both of them are innately qualified to do the work.”
Price Brothers is working on a 420,000-square-foot indoor sports and entertainment complex in Kansas City called Bluhawk. The facility’s website said it will be an anchor for future mixed-use development in the district.
Johnson said that project got the committee’s attention.
“In putting together the (request for qualifications), we’ve looked very closely at that facility specifically,” he said.
Johnson said that facility is about twice the size the city has in mind for the North River property, but it shows the company can create the city’s vision.
Bart Lowen, vice president of development at Price Brothers, said the company focuses on an area often overlooked in youth sports.
“What are you doing in that downtime between games?” Lowen said. “That part of the experience in the country, generally, isn’t great. What we’re delivering at Bluhawk in Kansas City and around the country is we’re creating an all-encompassing experience that the consumer at a youth sport facility is longing to see.”
Lowen said that includes getting restaurants, grocery stores, and hotels on-site. City officials have said a hotel must come with the fieldhouse to meet demand, and they hope other amenities will follow.
Lowen said Bluhawk is one of several youth sports developments Price Brothers is part of around the country.
Related Midwest is working on a similar project in Chicago called The 78. It’s a $7 billion mixed-use project planned for 62 acres of former railroad property, the developer’s website said.
It will include up to 13 million square feet of new commercial, residential and institutional construction.
Johnson said the project is also centered around a sports facility.
“Related Midwest is developing that site with a soccer stadium as the anchor of that site,” he said. “Then, they’re doing a mixed-use neighborhood alongside of that. It’s bigger than what we’re looking for here in Fort Wayne, but it’s very similar to that.”
Related Midwest has several other developments, but The 78 is the only youth-sports facility listed on its website. Related Midwest could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Local businessmen Daryle Doden and Chuck Surack offered to buy the North River property for $12 million not long after Mayor Sharon Tucker announced plans for the fieldhouse. Tucker said the land was not for sale.
City Councilman Nathan Hartman, R-3rd, said he wanted to delay sending out the request for qualifications to give Doden and Surack a chance to negotiate with the city. Hartman, who is also a redevelopment commission member, said the Fort Wayne developers should have been a finalist.
“As the fiscal body of the city, because they were willing to put down so much money upfront, that was something that was really intriguing,” Hartman said. “As we’re looking at the effects of (Senate Enrolled Act 1) and how that might affect our finances over the next three to five years and how we’re going to fill some of the gaps in our funding, that may have been the better route to go.”
John Perlich, the city’s public information director, said in an email that Price Brothers and Related Midwest have not offered to put any money down upfront. That would typically be negotiated later in an economic development agreement, he added.
Johnson said the advisory committee has requested design proposals from both companies and will assess those before making a final decision.
He said a developer will likely be chosen in the next three months.