BLOOMINGTON – The City of Bloomington has released a request for information for a housing development project at the Kohr Administration Building.
The Redevelopment Commission RDC) is inviting qualified real estate development entities to submit their proposals for the development of an affordable or mixed-income, multi-family residential project encompassing the Kohr Administration Building located at the northeast corner of West 1st and South Rogers streets.
It is not a request for a competitive bid. By submitting a proposal, the Developer agrees that do not obtain any right in or expectation to a contract with RDC or a vested interest or a property right in a contract with RDC, regardless of the amount of time, effort and expense expended by
the developer. The developer shall be solely responsible and liable for any and all costs incurred.
Responses are due by Friday, April 2nd, 2021 at 4 p.m.
The development site includes an approximately 23,000 square foot building completed in 1947. The building was recently designated as a historic structure.
At the start of his administration in 2016, Mayor John Hamilton directed
City leadership to focus on Bloomington’s significant affordable housing challenges. An increase in off-campus student housing demand driven by enrollment growth at Indiana University, combined with Bloomington’s non-university population growth was outpacing citywide housing supply.
This resulting supply-demand gap has driven housing rental and ownership prices upward, leading to Bloomington having among the highest residential real estate costs in the state.
As a result, lower-income and workforce residents have increasingly been priced out of living near the city’s core and other quality-of-life amenities.
According to the City’s 2020 Bloomington Housing Study, “over 60% of renter households and nearly 30% of owner-occupied households in Bloomington are cost burdened.”
Mayor Hamilton says these combined pressures on housing have accelerated the city’s commitment to addressing affordable housing.
Among the strategies outlined in the administration’s 2020 Affordable Housing Strategy is the city’s acquisition of key land parcels and structures to help facilitate affordable and workforce housing development in areas that might otherwise be limited to market-rate housing.
In May 2018, RDC entered into a purchase agreement with IU Health for the current 24-acre hospital site. IU Health will relocate to a new hospital facility in late 2021 and will transfer the existing hospital property to RDC after certain actions at the site are completed, as described below.
Mayor Hamilton said this transformational opportunity is the most substantial economic development project the city will likely face in the next half-century.
The agreement states that the RDC will receive the site, a portion of which shall be cleared and remediated including the main hospital building in the area bound by 2nd, Rogers, 1st, and Fairview streets. The Development Site falls within this area, but the Development Site building will not be demolished. The demolition and remediation of the remainder of
the 24-acres will be the City’s responsibility. The existing parking garage, located to the north of the Development Site at 605 W. 2nd Street, will remain.
RDC is pursuing adaptive reuse of the development site, which was recently designated as a historic structure by Bloomington’s City Council.
RDC has completed a master plan for the IU Health Hospital site in collaboration with Skidmore Owings & Merrill, which was completed in January 2021. The master plan is available online. This is RDC’s next step in stimulating development at the development site.
The following timeline shall be applicable unless modified by RDC pursuant to addendum to this RFI:
- RFI Issued: March 1, 2021
- First Tour Date of Kohr Building (onsite, Bloomington): Friday, March 12, 2021
- Deadline for first round questions: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 5:00 PM (EST)
- Questions/Answers posted via addendum: No later than Friday, March 19, 2021
- Second Tour Date of Development Site: Friday, March 26, 2021
- Deadline for second round questions: Monday, March 29, 2021 at 5:00 PM (EST)
- Questions/Answers posted: No later than Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 5:00 PM (EST)
- Due Date for Proposals: Friday, April 2, 2021 no later than 4:00 PM (EST)
- City Staff provides all Proposals to Selection Committee: Friday, April 2, 2021 at 5:00 PM (EST)
- Selection Committee Shortlists the Proposals: Friday, April 9, 2021
- Interviews of Shortlisted Developers (if desired by Selection Committee): April 12–16, 2021
- Shortlisted Developers ranked and delivered to RDC: Monday, April 19, 2021
- Contract Negotiations Commence: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
- IHCDA 9% LIHTC application deadline (if applicable): Monday, July 26, 2021
- RDC acquires ownership of Development Site: 2022
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