Electric Works joins National Register of Historic Places
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The National Park Service has officially added the Electric Works innovation district near downtown Fort Wayne to the National Register of Historic Places. The development team behind the multi-million-dollar revitalization of the former General Electric campus says Electric Works is the largest historic adaptive reuse project to receive the designation in Indiana.
The campus dates back to 1883, when it was operated by the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Light Company, which was acquired around the turn of the century by General Electric Co.
Ancora, the lead developer of Electric Works, says at its peak in 1944, GE employed about a third of Fort Wayne’s workforce. GE closed the campus in 2015.
The $286 million first phase of the mixed-use innovation district was completed late last year, and in January, officials flipped the switch on the electric sign identifying the site. The sign bears the name of Fort Wayne-based Do It Best Corp., which serves as the district’s anchor tenant.
Other parts of Electric Works include the Union Street Market food hall, the Amp Lab, a STEM-centered lab operated by Fort Wayne Community Schools, and the Parkview Physicians Group clinic that formally opened in January.
“The former GE campus was an economic engine for Fort Wayne for over a century, where pioneering inventors developed new technologies that launched legacy companies we still know today,” Jeff Kingsbury, chief connectivity officer for Ancora, said in written remarks. “We celebrate that history, but it’s more than nostalgia. Electric Works is about creating a place that inspires a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs for the next 100 years.”
Ancora said being listed on the National Register is the first step toward eligibility for federal preservation tax credits through the National Park Service.
“Saving important places requires public-private partnerships,” Kingsbury said. “State and federal tax credit programs are smart investments that work with private capital to make projects like Electric Works possible.”
The first phase of Electric Works features more than 700,000 square feet of space. The district’s second phase will feature new residential space with The Elex, which will include nearly 300 apartments, including about 75 for people over 55 years of age, as well as 1,143-space parking garage, an early childhood learning center, and an additional 9,000 square feet of commercial space.
Ancora said The Elex is slated to open in 2024.