Downtown Fort Wayne Developments: Part 1
In recent years, downtown Fort Wayne has seen many new developments that have transformed it into an extremely popular place for new businesses and investments. With projects like Promenade Park, Electric Works, and The Landing, many visitors who are looking for outdoor activities have come to visit, and while they’re here, they also get to see all the up-and-coming downtown spots Fort Wayne has to offer.
Read on to learn about all the newest and upcoming development projects in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
STAR Bank Headquarters & The Ashberry
STAR Financial Bank is getting a new headquarters in downtown Fort Wayne located at 215 West Main Street. The redeveloped block will feature a 7-story 50,000 square foot north tower, which will serve as Star Financial Bank Headquarters, and a 3-story 20,000 square foot retail/office south tower known as The Ashberry.
This block will have an attached 387-space parking garage that includes parking spaces for the public and condominium residents living in the 202 Metro building next door.
STAR’s 220 employees will move from their current office to the new building when the building is complete in early 2024. The building will also be home to a future Ash Brokerage event venue, as well as housing JUSTcm, an investment partner.
Hoch Associates designed this new development, and CMA Plus managed construction.
STAR is a family-owned community bank that has been serving Indiana for over 75 years. They are one of many businesses that have played an important part in downtown Fort Wayne’s transformation. STAR has grown to $2.6 billion in assets with over 35 locations across central and northeast Indiana.
The Bradley Hotel
The Bradley Hotel is a part of the Provenance Hotels of Portland and is a very exciting addition to the downtown Fort Wayne area. The hotel has around 120 rooms, and the main floor includes premium dining, meeting spaces, and commercial retail spaces.
Kilwins Ice Cream & Fudge, which opened in 2021, was one of the first to announce its new location at The Bradley Hotel. The Bradley also houses Birdie’s Rooftop Bar and Arbor Restaurant.
The hotel is in a perfect location for its future guests. Just one block from The Landing and Promenade Park, it’s situated centrally on Main Street between many major attractions.
The Bradley Hotel brings an aesthetic that is unique to the Northeast Indiana region’s hotels. Guests will have nine different suites to choose from, all of which are named after Indiana cities. Each room is styled differently, giving its guests a new experience and a pop of color to enjoy each time they visit. Every aspect of the hotel has been carefully planned with colorful patterned accents and color palettes inspired by Vera Bradley.
The Pearl
The Pearl is a newly constructed development from Surack Enterprises, and it’s located along Main Street in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne. It has 81 residential units and several retail spaces, including several restaurants coming soon. Of those 81 units, 5 units on the Webster Street side are live/work units, with retail space on the first floor and a connected apartment on the second floor. Construction was completed in Fall 2024.
Amore will be located at 239 West Pearl Street on the north side of the building and will offer traditional Italian cuisine with modern upscale dining. Right next door, Ducky’s will be a cheeky yet elevated American-style restaurant with eight lanes of duckpin bowling for all ages. Crescendo Coffee & Café, on the south side of The Pearl, is a coffee shop with a charming and sophisticated atmosphere.
The Pearl is part of The Pearl Arts district, which also includes the Pearl Street Arts Center to the north of The Pearl. It serves as a creative place where everyone can explore their passions. To the west of the Pearl Street Arts Center, the former Perfection Bakeries building will be a part of a future development.
The Lofts at Headwaters Park
Located at the northeast corner of Clinton and Superior Street, The Lofts at Headwaters Park is a $98 million mixed-use development project. The six-story building will include 12,000 square feet of retail space, 15 townhomes, and 217 apartments, as well as a 651-space parking garage. This project will also add 71 new trees to the block.
The Lofts at Headwaters Park will be adjacent to popular restaurants, like Club Soda and Old Gas House, and Headwaters Pavilion where year-round events and festivals are held.
Construction began in April 2023. The parking garage is expected to be open in the spring/summer of 2024 with full completion in 2025/2026.
The Wedge
The Wedge is a site prime for redevelopment due to its location adjacent to the riverfront and downtown. Primarily residential, this mixed-use multi-story development will be widely accessible and is a great asset to the Riverfront District.
According to the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission, market scans show that the Riverfront District has a burgeoning multifamily market as exhibited by strong developer interest, a robust pipeline, and rapid absorption of new products. The downtown sub-market could support the absorption of approximately 700 units over the next five years.
Barrett & Stokely Inc. will be developing the $51 million project, located northwest of Promenade Park on the north side of the Saint Marys River. It is connected to Promenade Park directly by the Historic Wells Street Bridge.
The Riverfront at Promenade Park
Also from Barrett & Stokely, The Riverfront at Promenade Park recently completed construction in Summer 2023.
The Riverfront offers more than two hundred apartments, seven townhomes, a 900-space parking garage, 30,000 square feet of office space, and nearly 15,000 square feet of retail space. Being so close to Promenade Park and The Landing, The Riverfront boasts an outstanding location and views.
Office and retail space are available along the St. Marys River, directly across the street from the city’s newest riverfront attraction, Promenade Park.
Other companies involved in the construction and development included Dillon Construction Group and local Fort Wayne architects Hoch Associates.
Lutheran Downtown Hospital
The new Lutheran Downtown Hospital is five stories high and approximately 188,000 square feet. It consists of sixty inpatient beds with room to grow to one hundred during future expansion, to meet community needs. This new hospital, completed in late 2021, and opened on November 13th, 2021, is the replacement for the Saint Joseph Hospital which has been located on Broadway and Main Street since 1869.
The goal of the new Lutheran Hospital is to provide comfortable healthcare to the downtown area. The facility will also include a nineteen-bed emergency department, a six-suite operating room, three cardiac catheterization labs, two gastroenterology suites, hyperbaric medicine, wound care, imaging services including magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography, robotic-assisted surgery, laboratory services, and regional burn center.
