Page last updated on April 20, 2023 at 9:50 am
Each week, Mayor Hamilton and Deputy Mayor Carmichael provide video updates on recent news and key initiatives. Access all of the weekly video updates at bloomington.in.gov/videoupdates.
In today’s video update, Mayor John Hamilton and Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael discuss Hopewell.
The City of Bloomington is redeveloping the 24-acre site now known as Hopewell, formerly the location of IU Health Bloomington Hospital and surrounding properties. Bloomington looks to diversify and expand opportunities for all, constructing a new neighborhood where people from all walks of life and all ages, incomes, abilities, and backgrounds can thrive.
Specifically, this means targeting affordable workforce housing with affordability built into the master plan. Hopewell is expected to have up to 1,000 residential units, including multi-family, single-family, multi-plex, and townhomes. The goal is that at least 20% of the units will be affordable and workforce housing.
Hopewell is also being planned with sustainability in mind to advance toward a zero-carbon future. Hopewell will incorporate best practices in sustainable redevelopment as a blueprint for a more equitable, livable, and resilient Bloomington. Specifically, this includes its near-downtown location with access to businesses, parks, public transit lines, and design and on-site features.
Hopewell is also being planned for the overall excellence of design, both in public spaces and private development. A new neighborhood that is affordable and sustainable can also be a beautiful and inspiring place to live.
Recently, Bloomington was awarded $1.8 million in Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funding for construction on Jackson Street as part of the new Hopewell neighborhood. The READI funding will support the design and construction of a 350-foot portion of Jackson Street as a brand-new corridor for housing.
Read more about the Hopewell project at hopewellbloomington.org.
Transcript
Mayor John Hamilton:
Hello. It's Mayor John Hamilton.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
And I'm Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael. I'm excited because we're back to talk about Hopewell again today.
Mayor John Hamilton:
We love that topic.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
We do love that topic. There have been some neat new developments. So let's give everybody an update.
Mayor John Hamilton:
So yeah, we all know Hopewell is the old hospital site that the city has bought and is being demolished, and we're going to redevelop it. It's an exciting new neighborhood in the downtown of Bloom, an amazing opportunity. And lately, we got a grant that was important. This came from the state through the regional opportunities initiative, our Indiana Uplands, and it's almost $2 million to help us build a street.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
Which I love because we're reestablishing that grid pattern that makes it a neighborhood again. It takes it away from being just a giant site and it just again, turns it back into a neighborhood, which is cool.
Mayor John Hamilton:
So Jackson Street? North, South we got a couple million, almost $2 million, to help rebuild it. We're going to be putting a lot of money in there to grid that whole 24 acres, which is exciting.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
A whole new street, university.
Mayor John Hamilton:
A whole new street, park, Greenway, all that stuff. But this will help us do that regridding, and we like every little bit of help we can get from the state. And you also can see some new signs at the site, right?
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
Right. Right. Yeah, I'm really excited about the signage because it's been a long time while we were doing demo, and we had to wait to be able to accomplish this. So we have three new signs up right now. We're encouraging people.
Mayor John Hamilton:
Are we following the local sign regulations?
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
I can guarantee that we are following the local signs.
Mayor John Hamilton:
Just checking. Just checking.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
I promise. Okay. So we're encouraging people to live there. We're telling people it's a new neighborhood and reaching out to developers and saying, "Hey, this is a place that you can help develop."
Mayor John Hamilton:
And we've had developers on site now starting to look at it. If you see the site now, it's virtually the main; all the building stuff's gone except what we're saving, the core building and the garage. We've got bids out to get infrastructure done. And anyway, it's a pretty exciting time. So stay tuned to this, I guess. Right? We'll do this every once in a while to tell you what's going on.
Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael:
Well, we'll also increase the signage as time goes by so that it'll become more and more obvious to everybody. So we're on our way.
Mayor John Hamilton:
Well, it's a very exciting project. We appreciate the city council support and the redevelopment commission that have helped buy it, and it's just a phenomenal opportunity for the city. You can check out more details on the website, but thanks for paying attention to Hopewell.