Frankfort Unveils Plans For Downtown Apartment Project
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe city of Frankfort has detailed plans for a $6.8 million market rate apartment complex in the city’s downtown. Mayor Chris McBarnes says the 73-unit Nickel Plate Flats, being developed by Lafayette-based Iron Men Properties, will "significantly strengthen Frankfort’s downtown revitalization efforts.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in June. The 60,000 square-foot building will include 11 studio apartments, 42 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments and two executive suites with rent ranging from $545 to $1,350 per month.
"Attracting folks to live in our downtown is critically important for Frankfort to survive," said McBarnes. "Nickel Plate Flats will help support existing and new businesses, as well as those who work in our Industrial Park who will be able to live and work in our community. This development will strengthen our community’s appeal for everyone from young professionals to empty nesters to visiting Industrial Park plant managers who can lease the executive suites while they are in town. In short, this exciting project will provide momentum and opportunities that cannot even be fathomed yet."
The city is also working with officials from Clinton County on parking for residents, including parking lots that will be upgraded ahead of the building’s opening. Frankfort City Councilor Joe Palmer, who is also the president of Frankfort Main Street, says the development accelerates the city’s quality of place progress by "leaps and bounds."
"This project is a giant step forward for the economic development health of our downtown as well as our community overall," Palmer. "Quality of place is about the tangible elements in our city that positively impact our neighborhood revitalization and economic development improvement initiatives, such as housing, downtown facades, park enhancements, growing our population in strategic ways and investments in our road infrastructure."
The city’s redevelopment and economic development commissions plan to use tax increment financing and traditional tax abatements to finance the project.