Downtown Fort Wayne Developments: Part 2

Downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a hub of growth and development with no plans to slow down anytime soon. Developments like Electric Works and Baker Street Centre contribute greatly to the overall economy of our city.

With what seems like new development announcements happening weekly, we'd like to highlight the progress of a few notable projects from the last few years. You can even get caught up on a few other projects in Part 1 of our series.

Read on to learn more about some of Fort Wayne’s hottest new developments and redevelopment projects.

Baker Street Centre

Baker Street Centre, formerly known as C2G Music Hall, is located at 323 West Baker Street on the southern edge of downtown Fort Wayne. The property is anchored by a 400-seat music venue, and it is soon expanding to include three additional suites. These new suites will range in size from 4,000 SF to 23,876 SF.

This venue hosts a variety of musical acts, from local talents to nationally recognized performers, but it also serves a broader purpose of providing meeting spaces for nonprofits, teaching areas for arts programs, and rental opportunities for private events. It is a welcoming community space and continues to maintain its reputation as a top-tier performance venue.

The redevelopment of Baker Street Centre expands the walkable footprint of Fort Wayne's entertainment district. Soon, you'll be able to spend the day cheering at an afternoon TinCaps game, followed by music & dining at Baker Street Centre and duckpin bowling at Pinhouse Social. It will be great to enjoy so many activities within two blocks of each other!

Interested in moving into Baker Street Centre? Click below to view what Sturges Property Group currently has available.

Electric Works

Electric Works is located on the historic General Electric Company campus, down the Broadway corridor. The campus was originally a large center of industrial development dating back to the 1880s. During World War II, General Electric employed around a third of Fort Wayne’s workforce. The plant closed in 2015 to stay competitive, and since then, Electric Works has been revitalized and redeveloped into a lively collection of offices, restaurants, and more. Just a few blocks south of downtown Fort Wayne, Electric Works brings delicious food, boutiques, and local and national businesses to the center of Fort Wayne.

Explore Union Street Market, which is full of eateries like Pasta di Guy, O-Cha Thai, Conjure Coffee, and much more. Also within the campus, you’ll find the Amp Lab, a unique learning environment for students to gain real-world experience in a non-traditional school setting. The industrial-yet-modern offices house the Do it Best headquarters alongside several other local businesses.

Warehouse Row

Warehouse Row may not have been the most talked about Fort Wayne redevelopment but it certainly deserves a moment to shine. The 400 block of East Brackenridge Street is a series of live-work buildings that combine retail, residential, and event space in an industrial-themed environment. The buildings are known for their blend of history and modernity, featuring exposed brick, polished concrete, and reclaimed wood. Their tagline "wonderfully new, historically cool" perfectly sums up this project.

This section of E Brackenridge consists of a series of warehouses, each bearing its namesake, that were once used as storage for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1930s. Building #3 is named after Alvin Max Strauss, a historic Hoosier architect who designed these warehouses along with the iconic Embassy Theatre, Lincoln Tower, and the Clyde Theatre. While Warehouse Row is one of Strauss's more understated endeavors, the new owners and developers saw endless potential in restoring a piece of Fort Wayne's history and completed the project in 2023.

Now, Warehouse Row hosts several small businesses, including Phan Gear Prints and Smart Building & Design. The few residential apartments available are expansive live-work units with a stylish, industrial charm. The quiet street is slightly off the beaten track but close to the downtown buzz via a short walk or bike ride. Follow Warehouse Row on their social media to view any live/work units currently available.

Arts United Center

Since opening in 1973, the Arts United Center has been the premier local venue for theatrical and musical performances, festivals, and classes. But this iconic mid-century modern building has remained untouched for the last 50 years and is currently undergoing extensive renovations to modernize and expand.

The building was designed by famous architect Louis Kahn, who also designed the Yale University Art Gallery and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Today, the Arts United Center is the flagship building of Arts Campus Fort Wayne, and the building serves as a hub for the performing arts, including the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre and the Fort Wayne Ballet.

There are even plans for the Arts Campus to join the newly proposed Urban Trail and host new indoor and outdoor events. These renovations will make the downtown Fort Wayne Arts Campus an even better place for all to enjoy the arts.

DORA

While not a physical building, DORA, also known as Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, is a boundary within Fort Wayne where patrons 21 and older can purchase alcoholic beverages from approved alcoholic beverage permittees and carry them outside.

The DORA boundaries are marked with signs around downtown Fort Wayne, and cover areas from Promenade Park down Harrison Street down to Parkview Field. Any open alcoholic beverage containers purchased within the DORA must remain within the boundaries.

Recently, a new DORA district has been added at Electric Works, and anchor tenant Chapman’s Brewing Company is one of the participants. Beverages are sold in approved DORA cups, which can be consumed within the boundaries of the Electric Works campus. The boundaries include Swinney Avenue to the south, College Street to the west, Broadway to the east, and the railroad as the northern boundary. The sidewalks along the boundary streets are not included in the DORA. 

Former Schaab Metals Building

The Schaab Metal Products building at 1216 North Harrison Street was recently sold to local developer Don Steininger. Steininger plans to renovate this property into a 45,000 SF multi-tenant commercial development, which will include a restaurant, brewpub, café, and e-sports venue. There are also plans for the venue to be all-ages friendly, filling a void for under-21 entertainment.

The project will maintain the existing brick façade and painted ghost advertisements of the late 19th-century building but will add a rooftop and outdoor dining and gathering space. According to building plans, the interior will also be demolished for better functionality and will include new elevators, stairwells, restrooms, and mechanical systems. The project is a part of the larger Riverfront development project, which has already completed projects like the Riverfront at Promenade Park. Preliminary timelines show interested tenants can occupy the space in 2025.

If all goes to Steininger's plan, the Schaab Metals Building would also be a stop along the proposed trolley line connecting north Promenade Park to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, a project led by Pufferbelly Junction. No news has been made on the progress of the trolley system since 2023.

Fort Wayne is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country and it’s easy to see why. Businesses are flocking to our city to put down roots and call Fort Wayne home.

You could do the same! Bring your business venture to downtown Fort Wayne and participate in the flourishing growth.