The Elkhart Redevelopment Commission on July 8 approved a request for qualifications and proposals for renovation of the former Big Lots and adjacent restaurant space at Woodland Crossing and designated a technical review committee to score submissions.

The commission also approved a revised 2025 Woodland Crossing budget to cover additional owner-paid expenses beyond common-area maintenance, and authorized several contracts and change orders for the shopping center, including replacement of monument-sign bulbs, parking-lot restriping and a $3,910 demolition change order.

Why it matters: Woodland Crossing is an active redevelopment site for the commission; the actions move design, tenant fit-out and ongoing maintenance forward while using project-generated rental revenue and special funds to cover costs.

Commissioners voted to issue the RFQ for a “full set of construction documents, full set of architectural documents, and…quotes for construction of the renovated spaces” at the former Big Lots and restaurant spaces, according to meeting materials and staff remarks. The commission then approved a technical review committee, noting that “keeping with the Indiana code, a technical committee has to be appointed” to review and score proposals and report back to the commission.

Mary Casca, assistant director of community development, told the panel the Woodland Crossing budget needed adjustments because the initial 2025 budget covered only common-area maintenance (CAM). “We didn’t establish a budget for the, we call it UCAM, which are other expenses that as the owner, we need to cover,” Casca said. She explained those owner-paid costs are funded from the project’s rental revenues and that some deferred maintenance and improvements had produced accounting issues requiring line-item changes to allow bill payment.

Separately, the commission approved three procurement items for the site:
- A $6,157.12 contract with Premier Signs to replace bulbs on the Woodland Crossing monument sign, funded from special fund 2560; staff said the board chose LED replacements for longer life and lower electricity use.
- A $19,485 contract with Arndt Asphalt, Ceiling Inc., to restripe and refresh the parking lot — including repainting handicap stalls, light-pole bases and curb painting — funded from special fund 2560.
- A $3,910 change order to the demolition contract with Amcon to remove a non–load-bearing partition wall inside the former Big Lots to create tenant space, funded from the consolidated TIP.

Each of those contracts and the budget revision were approved by voice vote; meeting audio recorded ayes with no recorded opposition.

Commission discussion and public comment on these items was brief; staff answered procedural and scope questions and confirmed funding sources for the maintenance and tenant-fit work. Casca also said the first new tenant is already under lease and that demolition crews were working at the site when the additional partition removal became necessary.

The commission asked staff to bring results of the technical review committee’s scoring back to the commission when available and to circulate final contract documents for the sign and paving work to the commission officers for execution.

The actions do not enact policy changes; they authorize procurement, budget line-item adjustments and a demolition change order tied to tenant fit-out and site maintenance.

Commission staff said they will return with bid evaluations and contract documents as next steps.