FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – After years of planning and fundraising and building and restoring, the former General Electric campus in Fort Wayne is transformed into the new mixed-used development called Electric Works.
WANE 15 got exclusive access to the different areas people can experience when they visit – and some of the areas not always open to the general public.
Watch the different videos below to learn more and explore Inside Electric Works.
Electric Works Fun Facts:
- To date, more than one million hours of labor have gone into the Electric Works project
- 119,000 square feet of masonry has been restored
- More than 10,000 cubic yards of concrete has been poured to-date
- 286,000 square feet of new roofs
- More than two acres of new unit pavers laid so far
- $286 million total public and private investment
- Ten buildings with 740,000 square feet of office and retail space
- 70 percent of the available space is rented so far
Where to park at Electric Works:
An 1,100-spot parking garage is on the north side of campus. Access the garage off Lavina Street. On the south end of campus, there’s a surface lot off Swinney Avenue. There’s also an overflow lot west of Electric Works on Wall Street. Parking is free for the first two hours.
Do it Best Headquarters:
Do it Best moved its corporate headquarters to building 26 on the Electric Works campus. It’s the first time in nearly 75 years the employees are working in a space other than the previous building off Nelson Road in New Haven. Do it Best Communications Manager Allison Meyer shows what the new offices look like.
Carr Workplaces Coworking Space:
Carr Workplaces has 28 sites across the country and the Electric Works coworking offices are the third location in Indiana. There are 85 offices that can accommodate anywhere from one person for just one day to a small business with 20 to 30 employees. There are three lounge spaces and several sizes of meeting rooms. Madelynne Hostetler, Carr Workplaces Program Manager, and Jordyn Hogan, the General Manager of the co-working space, give a tour.
Just outside the coworking space, the Forum is a large area where people can hang out or pass through to get from the south parking lot to the rest of Electric Works.
GE Club:
With a basketball court and a bowling alley, the GE Club dates back to 1926. Now it’s one of the few places in Electric Works where you can see an original GE Logo. Developer RTM Ventures Partner Kevan Biggs gives a tour.
Rooftop Views:
There are two rooftop patios available for the public to rent. One is on the Do it Best building 26 and the other is on the co-working building 19. Electric Works tenants get first right of refusal and can use the spaces during the work day if they’re not rented out. The patios can hold up to 300 people and give great skyline views!
Parkview Physician’s Group Clinic:
Parkview Physician’s Group’s new health clinic on the Electric Works campus offers seeing a doctor by appointment or by walk-in, x-rays, lab work and a pharmacy. One doctor is there now and three more are expected to join in January. The clinic is open by appointment now and walk-ins will start December 12th. PPG Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joshua Kline shows the new clinic.
Local Art:
Mark O’Neall, the Director of the Connecting and Insights Team at Ancora, and artist Theoplis Smith III aka PhreshLaundry, talk about art at Electric Works.
Amp Lab:
Every day 350 Fort Wayne Community Schools juniors and seniors learn in an innovate way at Amp Lab. They’re divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The students get credits for three classes in their half-day at Amp Lab. Director Riley Johnson shows off the classrooms.
Union Street Market:
In Buildings 20 and 22, the Union Street Market is full of flavor. Unique art hangs on the walls in the Atrium, the space that connects the two market sides. The East Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and offers more specialty grocery items. The West Hall is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is sometimes called a fancy food court. Conjure Coffee, while in the West Hall, opens at 7 a.m. Katy Silliman, the Senior Experience Director for Electric Works, gives a tour of the market.
Preserving the Past while Building the Future:
RTM Ventures and Weigand Construction were the driving forces behind bringing Electric Works to life. Kevan Biggs, a partner at RTM Ventures, and Weigand Construction CEO Larry Weigand talk about the project and how history was kept to live far into the future.
Future Phases:
As people start to use Electric Works, the project isn’t done yet.
SDI, Chapman’s Brewing Company and a larger Conjure Coffee are all expected to move in next year. The prayer room should open next month.
Right now the available space is 70 percent leased. The hope is to be 85 percent leased by the end of next year and they’re already in talks with some potential tenants.
Phase 2 is already underway and will expand around the parking garage adding nearly 300 apartments, including affordable senior living, a fitness center and an early childhood learning center. The goal is to be done by early 2025.
Then there’s the untouched space across Broadway. It’s just called the East Campus right now and it’s 500-thousand square feet of historic buildings and potential, but planning for that area hasn’t started yet.
