Redevelopment commission approves transfer of two West Indiana parcels to Elkhart schools for student-built homes

The Elkhart City Redevelopment Commission voted to transfer two city-owned parcels at 1425 West Indiana Avenue and 1720 West Indiana Avenue to the Elkhart Community Schools to support the Elkhart Area Career Center—s building trades program.

Adam Fan, assistant director of redevelopment, introduced the item and said staff had been working with the school system and the Elkhart Area Career Center to identify sites students could use for homebuilding projects. "We're trying to work the Elkhart community schools and the Elkhart Area Career Center to find some spots for the building trades class to build homes," Fan said.

Brandon Akins, director of the Elkhart Area Career Center, told commissioners the program has completed dozens of projects and wants to return more work into the city so students spend more time on-site. He said the school aims to build two homes a year on the transferred lots and described the planned homes as two- to three-bedroom houses that would "fit in the neighborhood" and could include detached garages. Akins said sale-price expectations were given in shorthand during the meeting (transcript: "about $1.90 to $2.25"); the transcript does not specify the units for those figures.

Commissioners asked no substantive follow-up questions at the public meeting. A motion to approve the property transfer was made and approved by voice vote.

The record shows the commission and school representatives framed the transfer as a training opportunity for students and as a way to add for-sale housing in the neighborhood. There were no public objections recorded during the item.

Votes and procedural details: a motion to approve the transfer of 1425 West Indiana and 1720 West Indiana to the school corporation was made during the meeting and carried by voice vote; the transcript records commissioners saying "Aye" with no roll-call tally provided.