City updates Southeast economic strategy; open house, new online hub planned

Jonathan Lice, Community Development director for the City of Fort Wayne, briefed the City Council committee on progress implementing the Southeast Economic Development strategy and previewed a new public “Engage” webpage and an open house planned for late March.

Lice said the Engage page will be the central location for updates on completed and underway projects and a place for residents to RSVP and give input. “Thanks for the opportunity tonight,” Jonathan Lice, Community Development director, said at the start of his presentation.

The update recapped metrics and investments from the five-year strategy. City staff said the Engage site recorded more than 120,000 visits last year, including about 51,000 unique visitors, roughly 2,000 contributors and about 1,500 people signed up for regular project updates. Since the strategy was adopted, staff reported roughly $86 million of public and private investment in Southeast Fort Wayne, not counting the Google data center commitment. The city separated Google’s pledge from other totals so it could be compared independently: staff stated the Google commitment totals about $2 billion and 200 jobs.

Staff gave project-level updates. Phase 1 of the Village Premier development (now branded Parks Edge) includes about 208 affordable housing units; staff reported the units are more than 90% occupied. A 10,000-square-foot health clinic for Meridian Health is under construction at Parks Edge and is scheduled to open this summer. McKinney Commons and a Pontiac Street streetscape project were cited as placemaking and pedestrian-improvement investments delivered under the plan.

Lice also described the Roosevelt Reserves subdivision with Jerry Starks as developer: staff said 49 homes were planned for phase 1 and the entire development is expected to include more than 200 single-family homes, the largest market-rate for-sale project in Southeast in about 50 years. Staff reported building permits had been issued for more than 25 sites and 34 lots from phase 1 had sold. Those sales and permit milestones met the city’s thresholds to unlock the next round of city infrastructure funding; city staff said utility work and site design are underway and public infrastructure construction for phase 2 is expected to begin in late spring or early summer.

Staff also summarized commercial activity at Southtown Center: recent private investment includes an urgent care, a Starbucks and an office center, and a Culver’s site purchase anticipated in 2026. Lice reiterated gratitude to Council for prior financial support — including an economic development bond for Village Premier, a housing TIF and a legacy loan for Roosevelt Reserves, ARPA funds and other city contributions to Pontiac Streetscape and McKinney Commons — and said the division will continue soliciting public input at the upcoming open house.

Council members asked several operational questions during the presentation. Questions and staff responses included: - Council members sought clarity on the sales threshold for Roosevelt Reserves; staff said the developer was required to sell two-thirds of the lots (about 66%) to qualify for the next funding tranche and that the developer met that threshold with 34 lots sold. - Council members asked how Pontiac Street Market is performing; staff said that topic will be covered in a separate update, targeted for March. - Council members asked about the effect of a speed hump installed on Pontiac Street; staff said it had reduced speeds but created asymmetric travel impacts in one direction and that staff were evaluating whether to alter the hump size.

Why it matters: the Southeast strategy has driven housing, parks and streetscape investments city officials say are intended to improve neighborhood access to services and attract private investment. The open house and the new Engage webpage are designed to collect additional resident priorities as the division prepares its next round of projects.

Looking ahead, Lice said the division will issue a press release announcing the open house and officially launching the Engage page in late March. Council members said they plan to attend and encouraged continued neighborhood-level outreach.