By Bridget Levitz, Truth Staff
ELKHART -- Two developers want to turn Elkhart's Civic Plaza area into a downtown hot spot.
Plans for these potential projects will go before the city Redevelopment Commission at a special meeting Monday.
Both plans contain a hotel and retail component, Brian Gildea, Elkhart's economic development manager, said.
Local developers Dan Brekke and Paul DeLano, operating as Waterfall Terrace LLC, and Columbus developer Herman Renfro are eyeing the space immediately behind the downtown plaza.
"We will keep a plaza," Mayor Dave Miller said. "The ground immediately to the east is the development site."
Further details of the plans and boundaries will be presented Monday. The Redevelopment Commission will review the plans and determine which project is best suited for the site, Gildea said. That decision likely will be made later in February.
"If it goes through -- either one is good, either one will be a pretty big project," Gildea said.
City officials have been hoping for this type of development since Midway Motor Lodge/Quality Hotel was demolished in the late '90s.
"Ever since the city tore down the old motel we have anticipated that something new would rise there," Miller said.
Either project, Miller said, could re-energize downtown. Visitors to the city would be able to stay near such events as the Elkhart Jazz Festival, and the city would have a place to host entertainers performing at the Elco. Restaurants and merchants would benefit from the increased activity downtown as well.
Improvement projects throughout the last year helped catch the attention of these developers.
"You have to spend money to entice development," Gildea said. "That's what we're seeing."
RiverWalk and Streetscape progress, coupled with private investment such as downtown apartment renovations and construction of the Indiana University South Bend Elkhart campus, all play a part.
While the city has been actively seeking developers for property, individuals also have approached the city with project ideas, Miller said.
"We've let it be known that we're entertaining prospects," he said. "Now we have interest from two serious contenders."
Brekke is president of Gateway Builders and is responsible for a significant amount of development along C.R. 17 and also has been in talks with Elkhart County about the possibility of a convention center for concerts or Elkhart Express games.
DeLano, working with Brekke on the plaza proposal, also is the developer of a proposed upscale housing development, Resort at Four Lakes, in Edwardsburg, Mich.
Columbus-based developer Renfro has done a number of mixed-use developments -- including a retail, hotel and entertainment project for West Lafayette.
The Redevelopment Commission will hear presentations from both developers at 4 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 229 S. Second St.