Muncie approves another $500,000 loan for Madjax

The Muncie Redevelopment Commission approved the loan to Sustainable Muncie, the non-profit that owns Madjax, housed in the former commercial laundry at Madison and Jackson streets.

Thursday's vote follows by a few weeks Muncie City Council's Sept. 11 vote to approve a backup loan of $4.5 million for the project. That vote prompted a lawsuit from Thomas Bracken, a Ball State University trustee who maintains the makers hub project could be an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.

Bracken's lawsuit is why the redevelopment group approved the new $500,000 loan on Thursday, MRC director Todd Donati told The Star Press. 

The $4.5-million loan — to pay $1.7 million or more in outstanding debts and continue remodeling of the former Cintas/Midwest Towel building — is tied up by the lawsuit, Donati said. 

The $500,000 will allow Sustainable Muncie to pay Pridemark Construction and other companies that have already worked on the building that haven't yet been paid, Donati said, adding that Pridemark accounts for as much as $400,000 of that amount.