Michael’s Place Apartments pulls out of Muncie after local media questioning
A developer planning an apartment complex on Muncie’s west side has pulled out of the plan after local media questioned the company founder’s criminal record.
The Muncie City Council in March tabled a tax abatement proposal for Horizon Companies, after wanting to ask more questions about the project and the company’s founder, Preston Byrd. In 2016, he was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering relating to fraudulent business loans. He served time in federal prison and is paying restitution.
In an interview late last week, Muncie’s Star Press asked further questions about those federal convictions and separate cases of possible fraud in Tennessee, filed as recently as 2021.
After the interview, Horizon Companies told the newspaper it was canceling the Michael’s Place apartment complex. The mayor’s office confirmed the move in a late Friday afternoon statement.
Horizon Companies has already bought the land it needs on Memorial and Tillotson for its planned 276-unit complex. In the city’s statement, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour said the company is unsure of its next steps.
Muncie had been prepared to give the company a tax abatement or economic development agreement equal to a tax abatement for its $52 million project.
After the city council tabled the tax abatement discussion, Ridenour asked the Muncie Redevelopment Commission to approve what it called a “plan B” – negotiating an economic development agreement that would pay Horizon Companies the value of the tax abatement for Michael’s Place if it doesn’t pass.
As presented to the city council, the abatement was estimated to be worth $1.6 million. The value of an MRC agreement, which Ridenour said would be used for infrastructure around the future apartment complex, was $2.5 million over five years.
Ridenour had told the MRC that if Muncie gave no financial incentives to the company for the project, it would cancel Michael’s Place.
The west side apartment complex is part of the mayor’s push for new housing for Muncie, something he says will bring more businesses to the area.
