Mayor: Levinson Groundbreaking ‘A Long Time Coming’

The mayor of Noblesville says a more than $24 million apartment and parking project will increase the vibrancy of the city’s downtown. Officials broke ground Wednesday on The Levinson, a mixed-use development featuring 85 apartments, a 300-space parking garage and 5,000-square-feet of commercial space. In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, John Ditslear said the project, which will include downtown Noblesville’s first new apartments in more than a century, has been a long time coming.

"Credit to the developers for really listening to a lot of people about what they want in downtown," said Ditslear. "It’s going to be a very, very positive change and we’re looking forward to it. I think overall, everyone will be pleased as it goes and is filled up. Certainly, it’s going to add to downtown."

Ditslear says he believes the project will kick off additional investment in downtown Noblesville. Fishers-based Rebar Development is overseeing the project and President Shelby Bowen says incorporating the tradition and history of the city into the project was important in the development process.

"It was a high priority for the city and our neighbors and the folks who live here and so it was really about trying to blend what’s here, but also do something new," said Bowen. "This is about the next 100 years and a new project. Can we do something dynamic that is our own and has its own character but reflects some of the elements of architecture that are downtown? So our architects got with the local preservation group, walked around, took pictures of buildings and incorporated some elements that we really liked of some things that we saw here in downtown."

Bowen says the project is very unique to central Indiana and has a goal of getting people of think of downtown Noblesville as a place to live and work.

"What you’ll start to see is really an energy that is more than just the kind of what I would consider the visitors that go, ‘Hey let’s go to Noblesville and check out the downtown. It’s going to be a great place to live and there are so many amenities, almost 20 restaurants, four parks within a 15-minute walk, trails, farmer’s market, concerts, just all of the things that if you’re thinking about looking for a quality place to live, you’ll have it here at The Levinson."

Bowen says work on the garage will begin immediately and the entire project is expected to be complete in the fall of 2020.