New apartments to be built

A Bloomington contracting firm broke ground Wednesday on a new, $42 million development on the site of old ST Semicon plant.\nBloomington-based Weddle Bros. Construction, a general contracting firm, is teaming up with developer Smallwood Plaza, LLC to create the development on College Avenue between Eighth and Ninth Streets.\nThe complex will consist of three areas: Smallwood Plaza, the residential area; Smallwood Pike, the main commercial area; and Smallwood Annex, a combination of residential and commercial space.\nConstruction for the project began Wednesday with a morning demolition ceremony with Guy Totino, a partner in Smallwood Plaza, LLC, as the master of ceremonies. John Jacobs, managing member of local developer Smallwood Plaza, and Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez spoke at the ceremony about the importance of the project and its benefits to the community.\n"We are so pleased to take out a longtime eyesore and replace it with a development that everyone in Bloomington can be proud of," Jacobs said. "In the process, we plan to provide 135 full-time construction jobs."\nAfter the speeches, Fernandez, Bloomington planning director Tom Micuda and city controller Tom Guevara were among the city officials to take swings at the walls of the old plant with golden sledgehammers.\n"I was one of three city officials to officially commence the demolition," Micuda said. "It's the first time I've ever been involved in anything like that, and it was exciting. Usually, my role in land development is to plan on the front end of it and not be involved with the construction. It was neat to be on the scene when they began the work on the property."\nJeffersonville, Ind.-based architecture firm The Estopinal Group designed the plans for the new complex, creating an area that will help to restore the residential-commercial mix that was popular in downtown Bloomington at the turn of the century. The brick-and-limestone apartment building will be home to 223 apartments and will take 16 to 18 months to complete. On-site parking and 27,194 square feet of commercial space will be added benefits. Tenants will be able to move into the centrally-located apartments by August 2004.\n"These are not going to be built as budget apartments," Jacobs said. "They are not going to be as expensive as some of the luxury apartments. These are going to be quality-built apartments that will have some very nice finishes in them."\nThree-dimensional renderings of the apartments' interiors will be up on the Smallwood Plaza Web site, www.smallwoodplaza.com, within the next two months so that prospective tenants can see the layouts and designs of the apartments.\nThe apartments will be available for rent in multiple sizes. According to a statement from Smallwood Plaza, apartment size will range from 726 square feet to 1554 square feet among the two- to four-bedroom apartments. Equipped with appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers, the apartments will also include high-speed Internet access and free cable TV.\nTo ensure the security of the complex, each tenant will be issued a picture identification to enter the building, the elevators and apartments, in addition to the more than 50 security cameras that will be installed.\nParking spaces have been provided for 65 percent of the tenants, a larger number than most apartment complexes, according to the statement. If residents need to travel around Bloomington, they will be able to hop onto Bloomington Transit routes since Route 6 will be extended to the new complex.\nMicuda said this new development near the heart of Bloomington will help the city move toward a more vivacious image.\n"I think the development of the Semicon property will be an important turning point in the future of the city's downtown area," Micuda said. "Bloomington has always tried to have a 24-hour downtown (area) that is vibrant all the time because there are a number of people who reside, visit and shop (there). In order to have the 24-hour downtown that we want for our community, it is important to have housing projects that stimulate the vibrancy that we look for"