Mishawaka sees steady growth in economic development
Mishawaka has seen consistent growth in development over the past three years.
The city saw just over $67 million in new construction in 2014, $85 million in 2015 and just over $98 million last year.
Officials believe the city is on track to surpassing the $100 million mark this year.
“We’re focused on people growth we want to attract people to the city of Mishawaka,” said Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood.
The city is setting its sights on young people.
“Someone with professional experience, someone who’s going to come back here and make the city a better place,” said Mayor Wood.
The mayor says the city is better place thanks to many upscale projects popping up around town.
Projects like the River Rock, nearly filled with young professionals now after opening its doors just five months ago.
There’s now new residents close to downtown.
“We got two or three new restaurants getting ready to open up downtown and they got kind of a built in customer base right here,” said the mayor.
It’s a stark contrast in interest from a little over five years ago.
“From the recession I think there was a buildup based on the lack of development that happened there and now we’re seeing boom or bust and it’s booming again,” said city planner Ken Prince.
And with that boom comes demand for more modern living.
“The trend has been getting away from single family housing in the city and going more to apartments or condominium type developments,” said Prince. “And we also have the Grandview project which Great Lakes is building off Gumwood.”
Grandview is one of the many developments in a city committed to providing luxury alternatives for the rising young workforce.
“As you may be able to tell by the windows that have lights in them, people are interested in them and people are moving in and we see continued strength so, we figured that this summer we’re going to be full, which is right on target,” said Michael Zinc, senior vice president of Bradley Company.