Muncie lands national builder to erect large eastside housing addition and Storer Estates

MUNCIE, Ind. − Startling housing growth is being planned for Muncie, including an addition planned for a part of the city unaccustomed to new home construction.

D.R. Horton, a Texas company that bills itself as the nation's largest home builder, is in the process of buying the dormant Muncie SportsPlex, on the east edge of the city along Country Club Road just north of Ind. 32, to create a housing addition of 175 to 225 new single-family homes, valued in the range of $250,000 to $350,000, said Mayor Dan Ridenour.

That was the second deal D.R. Horton has struck with the city.

The company has also agreed to buy all of the home lots in Storer Estates for $1.02 million, paying the city $30,000 for each of the 34 lots the city has been working to develop at the site of the former Storer Elementary School, west of Tillotson Avenue. The city had recently finished paving new streets inside the addition.

Muncie had been working to develop housing there since 2019, after a proposed condominium project fell through. The Muncie Redevelopment Commission will receive the income from the sale.

"D.R. Horton could have gone anywhere," Ridenour said. The company boasts of having built a million homes in the United States. Officials of the company reportedly decided to build in Muncie after a three-hour tour of the city with Ridenour and longtime local real estate businessmen Joe Allardt and Ed Conatser.

Ridenour publicly thanked the two local men during a meeting the the Muncie Redevelopment Commission last week, during which the two planned developments were announced.

D.R. Horton has built in Pendleton and other Indiana communities, Ridenour said, but were “very impressed with (Muncie), with where we are, where we’re going.”

Spokesmen for D.R. Horton did not respond to requests for comment.

More: Slowed construction causes city to lose only buyer at Storer Estates

Who is D.R. Horton?

The company is based in Arlington, Texas, and was 194th on the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations by revenue. The company had operations in 90 markets in 29 states.

"They have the funds to do this," said Ridenour. "We are thrilled."

Just last week the company announced a new chief operating officer. Paul J. Romanowski has been promoted to president and CEO and was named to the company’s board of directors. D.R. Horton has been the nation’s largest homebuilder by volume since 2002 and has closed more than 1 million homes in its 45-year history.

Leading up to the the deal involving the SportsPlex, Ridenour said the Muncie Sports Commission had approached him about having the city take possession of the property, which includes multiple softball diamonds, because the Commission could not longer afford to maintain it.

Commission officials did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Ridenour said the Commission had not fared well with the property since it ended its relationship with the Muncie - Delaware County Tourism Bureau. That separation along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic left the once popular SportsPlex empty.

In 2021 the commission staged a rebranding effort, which included a new logo. Jon Anderson, who was executive director at the time had told the Star Press the commission was trying to reimagine what it could be "as not just the owners of the Sportsplex, but more of a backbone or umbrella organization for sports and recreation in Muncie and Delaware County."

The organization might have the money to do that as a result of the real estate deal. The Redevelopment Commission is paying $768,352 to the Sports Commission for the SportsPlex property based on the value of the land. The Commission will take that money and pay off the remaining bond debt on the SportsPlex, which Ridenour said was about $400,000.

More: Muncie Sports Commission announces board, new purpose statement and brand

The property will then be placed in the name of the Delaware Advance Corp., which will execute the sale to D.R. Horton on behalf of the city. D.R. Horton has agreed to pay $730,365 for the property. That money will pass through DAC and be returned to the Redevelopment Commission.

The difference between what the city paid for the land and what it will receive is $37,937 less, which Ridenour said amounts to what the city will be paying for the new east side housing development that Redevelopment Commission President Jeff Howe estimated has being worth $40 million to $50 million.

The east Muncie development would be within Muncie city limits and become part of the city's tax base. However the development is in Liberty Township and the Wapahani School District would gain the property tax benefit and likely gain most of the students, not Muncie Community Schools.

The mayor said he had informed the Wapahani School Board members, who were understandably pleased to hear the news.

Ridenour said he thinks the eastside development will bring enough residents to that part of town, along with the tenants of the new Riverbend Flats affordable housing at Memorial and Burlington drives, to attract other businesses to the areas, which has been described has a food desert due to the lack of grocers.

In the past, Ridenour said the food stores he has approached about the eastside have told him it doesn't have enough people living there the invest in building a store.

He going back to talk with them, he said.

D.R. Horton initially reached out to the city. Ridenour said, he had not sought out the company.

He said the timing of the announcement had nothing to do with the upcoming mayoral election in November.

Some political opponents of the mayor have criticised D.R. Horton for being a defendant in numerous lawsuits, including those accusing the company of poor workmanship.

This month, according to The Dallas News, D.R. Horton, its subcontractors and suppliers, received preliminary court approval for a $16.1 million settlement of claims made by homeowners in Easley, South Carolina, who sued for years ago over alleged construction defects.

Ridenour said that such lawsuits are common for such a large company. D.R. Horton has 20 housing developments in the Indianapolis area, 13 near Fort Wayne, three in Indiana near Chicago and one in Indiana near Louisville. None of the Indiana development have been cited in such lawsuits.

More: Second Harvest uses COVID-19 funds to expand services

He said that people also sue the city of Muncie.

At Thursday’s Muncie Redevelopment Commission meeting, board members approved the purchase agreement of all 34 lots at Storer Estates. The City has recently paved the streets in the subdivision and added a walking trail. It also is creating a retention pond, which is will finish along with the neighborhood park.

"Carl will get his 33rd park," Ridenour said in reference to Muncie Park Superintendent Carl Malone.

D.R. Horton is buying Storer Estates in sections every 90 days as the city works to resolves issues connected with part of the development being in a floodplain. Ridenour said all the property in the addition has been lifted out of a floodplain by the excavation related to preparing for the housing.

He said the process of getting that changed will take time, so the purchase will be completed nine lots at a time, delaying the completed deal until the paperwork regarding the floodplain is complete. He said that Storer Estates should be built before work building the east Muncie addition begins.

The mayor added that the retention pond and work conducted by the Muncie Sanitary District should resolve flooding problems throughout that neighborhood.

The plan for the city originally paid $175,000 for the property in 2019, before the Ridenour administration came to office. And Ridenour said the park would probably cost about $340,000 when done.

Originally, Ridenour said he had hoped local builders would buy lots and build in Storer Estates but that business never developed. He said that another nonlocal developer had expressed an interest but he chose to go with the company he knew would have the wherewithal to finish the job.

Howe said the Storer Estates sale was "a huge win."

“The need for housing has amplified, while the source of housing has not,” he said.

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. Contact him at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie lands national builder for new eastside housing, Storer Estates