Boutique hotel proposed for Bloomington’s Trades District
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Officials from The Mill, a business incubator in Bloomington, are already moving forward with development plans for the city’s downtown Trades District.
Just over a month after issuing a Notice of Offering for the development of four parcels in the 14-acre district, The Mill received a proposal for a $35 million boutique hotel from developer Alluin Development LLC that could also include restaurant and meeting space.
The 150-room hotel would be built on a parcel that is being offered for sale for just over $1 million.
John Fernandez, former Bloomington mayor and senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill, told INside INdiana Business that officials are excited about the proposal.
“It will bring the kind of meeting space, restaurants, bars, all the kinds of activities that are really important for an active hub,” Fernandez said. “So what we have right now is a draft letter of intent. We still need to work through a couple of issues to take it forward to our redevelopment commission for formal approval.”
Fernandez noted that it is still very early in the process, but The Mill and Alluin are working to create a project agreement that will be presented to the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission as early as the end of this month.
“We just want to ensure that we get the right kind of design in place, so it fits into the overall vision we have for the district and that’ll integrate with the other kinds of activities that are happening currently at The Mill.”
The Trades District is part of the Bloomington Certified Technology Park. The Mill currently operates within the district, focusing on supporting and accelerating early-stage technology startups.
Fernandez, who was brought in to lead development of the district in February, said the district was always envisioned to serve as a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood hub focused on entrepreneurship and innovation not just in Bloomington, but also part of a regional hub connecting talent to opportunities at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division to the south and to 16 Tech in Indianapolis.
The proposed hotel is designed to cater to a demographic that Fernandez said is currently underserved in Bloomington.
“That’s kind of that 25-35 marketplace. It’s business travel. You want to have proximity to IU, proximity to Crane,” he said. “It’s not designed to be a football weekend kind of place. It really is to contribute to this ecosystem and this hub that we’re trying to build in Bloomington that can really drive our economy forward.”
The remainder of the parcels could potentially include employment, workforce housing and retail offerings.
But the hotel is not the only project brewing in the Trades District. Planning continues on an $8.5 million technology center that will serve as a Class A office building. The 22,000-square-foot building has received $5 million in city funding, as well as $3.5 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
While The Mill focuses on early-stage startup ventures, Fernandez said the tech center is being designed for growth-stage companies and potential service providers that could help take those startups to the next level.
“We would envision in this new building not just growth-stage companies, but actually some mature companies that specifically want to be in close proximity to Indiana University for their ability to compete for talent coming out of the university, to have line of sight into some of the applied R&D activities that are happening in the university, and to really have greater access to all of this talent.”
Fernandez said The Mill soon send final bid plans to the EDA for final approval, after which it will begin soliciting bids for the project’s construction. If all goes as planned, he estimates ground could be broken in late September or early October.
The site of the Trades District was previously home to the former Showers Brothers Furniture Co., and two remaining structures are being redeveloped by private owners.
In November, the redevelopment commission sold the former Kiln Building to a collective of local businesses. The new owners plan to redevelop the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, into useable space for the businesses, and eventually add more stories for use by graduates of The Mill or other companies.
In January, the former Showers Administration building was sold to Eurton Qualified Opportunity Fund LLC, which said at the time it intended to restore the building to its original condition and seek tenants later this year.
An updated timeline for the redevelopment of both buildings was not available.