New downtown Muncie apartments announced

Muncie’s downtown will soon see more housing as a private investor turns a former department store building into a four-story apartment complex.

Muncie officials say a private company called Roebuck, LLC will spend $7.5 million to renovate and add onto the former Sears Building at the corner of Walnut and Main streets.

Building plans call the site the South Walnut Street Apartments.  It will be a mix of 42 new studio-to-three bedroom apartments, space for shops, and private underground parking.  The developers will also add more than 44,000 square feet to the building by expanding into the parking lot at the corner of Walnut and Main.

A study conducted by the Muncie Downtown Development Partnership says 98 percent of the housing options in the downtown area are already full.  The organization says adding more housing will also bring more investment to the city’s core.

The two men behind Roebuck, LLC are Mark Peters and Gary Dannar – the same men behind the Kitselmen Pure Energy Park on Muncie’s east side.  That project, announced in March, will put a business park on a former EPA Superfund industrial site.

City officials did not give an exact timeline for the downtown project because Roebuck still needs to find financing for its full plan.  Muncie will also contribute TIF tax revenue dollars to the project, but that won’t happen until at least 2019.

You can see interior plans for the apartment complex here [PDF].