The City of Shelbyville purchased the former Chase Bank building in downtown Shelbyville to control future development of the cornerstone structure.
Fifteen months later, the city is selling the building (photo), 49 Public Square, to Genesis Property Development which oversaw the downtown renovation project.
The December 2020 purchase, which included the parking lot behind the nearby Knights of Pythias building, was for $260,000 according to city attorney Jennifer Meltzer.
The bid to purchase the Chase building was opened Monday night at the Redevelopment Commission meeting at City Hall. Genesis’ bid of $295,000 was accepted. The purchase agreement does not include the parking lot which the city wants to keep under its control.
“We are working with a partner who will occupy a small part of the building, largely the office space on the second floor,” said Ron Kelsay of Genesis Property Group, which is based in Shelbyville. “On the first floor, in conjunction with some of what the city wanted to do with the building, (we will) create some incubator space for new startup businesses, which would consist of some smaller independent offices and a shared conference room.
“If you look inside the building, the first floor opposite the (bank) teller’s side, is already a bank of offices. That space is really already set up perfectly for the incubator type of space. The other half, we will convert into space for lease or offices for retail.”
There is still design work to be completed but Kelsay believes work will start soon to go in conjunction with the larger renovation project happening at the Methodist Building (photo), 23 Public Square, which is also owned by Genesis.
“The whole impetus of what is going on downtown and the city’s investment,” said Kelsay when questioned about the interest in purchasing the Chase building. “Years ago when we had discussions with the city about redevelopment of the Public Square, which they already had in their plans and in their sights, combined with what we wanted to do with the Methodist Building, it was always our thought process as a developer that once things get going, once the public portion invests in something, it creates an opportunity to where as a developer it now makes sense to invest in something that without the downtown, it’s hard to make that kind of investment and commitment in what it costs to remodel an old building like that when you have an old downtown that isn’t really attractive to people and people don’t want to come to.
“Now the tables have turned. With the incredible downtown and all the events that are planned, it creates a sort of incentive and reason for investment in all these old buildings.”
The Redevelopment Commission also opened a bid for a parcel of land located behind the former Coca-Cola bottling plant (photo) and the Porter Center, which houses the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and the Shelby County Tourism & Visitor’s Bureau.
Birge & Held Asset Management LLC, offered $131,950, the required minimum bid, for the parcel. That bid was accepted.
For more on the Birge & Held project, go to https://shelbycountypost.com/local-news/626786
The Indianapolis-based company already owns the Coca-Cola building, 405 N. Harrison St., which it is redeveloping and the additional parcel will become apartments that will be part of a mixed-use development project.
