Southwest Indiana is on the precipice of visible change. Here’s a look at what’s in store for the The Vault, a mixed-use development on the former site of the Old National Bank tower in Downtown Evansville. Read about more projects in the June/July 2024 Evansville Business feature story.
The Vault
It’s taken far longer than anyone anticipated, but multiple local officials say construction activities are about to begin on the vacant Main Street block where the 18-story Old National Bank office tower was imploded in November 2021.
Known as The Vault, the mixed-use project will take up three-fourths of the block bordered by Main, Fourth, Fifth, and Sycamore streets. The design calls for 165 rental apartments, with commercial space on the ground level, and underground parking.
On May 24, Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry’s office announced a groundbreaking for The Vault scheduled for 1 p.m. May 28.
The developer is CRG Residential, based in Carmel, Indiana, which was the general contractor for the Post House, also in Downtown Evansville. CRG also is in the process of constructing Promenade Flats, an apartment complex off North Burkhardt Road on Evansville’s East Side.
Apartments in The Vault are considered “attainable housing,” where people earning from 80 percent to 120 percent of the area’s median income could live, says Josh Armstrong, E-REP chief economic development officer.
Median household income in the Evansville area stood at about $49,000 in 2022, and Armstrong says The Vault will have some units “that would be affordable for those types of households.”
Construction of The Vault is to finish in 2026. Evansville taxpayers are helping the project with bonded financing approved in 2023 by the City Council — it will build the underground garage. Armstrong says the developer and “several” local investors, whom he declined to identify, also are involved.
Terry, when asked what types of business she would like to see on the building’s ground floor, says in prepared remarks: “At this point, two things that I think are noticeably absent from our Downtown are a grocery store and a pharmacy. I think having those locations, whether as part of this project or elsewhere Downtown, would be a welcome addition and add convenience for all of those who live in the area – including the new residents of The Vault.”
The one-fourth of the block not taken up by the building is envisioned as a small, city-owned park. CenterPoint Energy announced a donation to that endeavor in May 2021.
