A shopping center on Muncie’s Southside is scheduled for redevelopment, thanks to a new owner who will bring IT jobs to the location.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

Southway Centre on South Madison Street will be renamed The Markets on Madison.  The Muncie mayor’s office says the property was purchased late last year by Redmond, Washington-based software consulting group BrickRed Systems.

The location currently features a large parking lot, which will soon be home to several buildings and a play area. (Photo: Google Maps)

Concept drawings in the announcement show three new buildings would be constructed along Madison Street where there’s currently a large parking lot.  The project will include a grocery store and a mix of restaurants, businesses, and retail.  Besides BrickRed, no business names were included in the announcement.

Mayor Dan Ridenour says the city will use funds from his EDIT account to help green up the 19-acre site.

“The other thing that we’re going to do with that parking lot is you’re going to see a much greener – we’re going to put a little playground area in there, and some seating, and lots of trees.  So, it’ll be completely transformed.”

In a statement, BrickRed says it hopes to bring 50 IT jobs to the city as part of the satellite office it will house in the Madison Street center.  Muncie officials say they’ll work with the state to get the company incentives for bringing technology jobs to Indiana.

The mayor’s office says the project will begin in the spring.  No completion date for the project or bringing BrickRed jobs was included.

No budget was given for the city’s contribution or for BrickRed’s investment.

According to the mayor’s spokesman, the city will be seeking a tax abatement from the Muncie City Council for the project.  That request is not listed on the council’s March agenda.

(Photo: Courtesy of City of Muncie)