Old National reveals plans for $24M project

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – Plans for a $24 million project in downtown Lafayette were revealed Thursday morning.

“This is another milestone for our community. It’s really hard to describe what this will mean to downtown Lafayette,” Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said.

Old National plans on tearing down its current location at 101 Main Street to build a $24 million development that will house much more than just a bank.

“There will be 96 luxury apartments and a regional headquarters and bank branch for Old National Bank and then an additional 5,000 square feet of retail space for either a nice restaurant right on Riehle Plaza,” Deylen Realty’s Craig Von Deylen said.

Deylen Realty will manage the development which will also include basement parking and a green roof terrace. Von Deylen said Lafayette’s booming manufacturing industries were a big factor in deciding where to develop.

“The GE announcement was a big deal for us then also its adjacency to a major university. These were things that combined together to make it a very desirable community for us to go look at,” Von Deylen said.

Roswarski said the modern development will make downtown a more desirable place to live.

“I think it speaks well to the direction of the urban core, downtown living, downtown amenities,” Roswarski said. “Each one of these projects is moving us closer to attaining that downtown density that we need of people who actually live downtown every day.”

The Realty group is also working with the city to work on the on-going Wabash River Enhancement project.

“We’ve had conversations about how do we tie in a river walk into this development and begin to tie in that into the river and the trail system and into other grounds,” Roswarski said.

Construction is set to start in September and should take about 18 months. It’s set to open in 2017.