Development & Investment Opportunities

Live, Work, Locate Your Business Downtown

Starting, locating and growing your business in downtown Lafayette offers numerous advantages that make it an attractive destination. Downtown Lafayette is a vibrant and prosperous community that is rich in culture, history and modern amenities that will help your business thrive. With its strategic location as a regional hub for commerce, government and services, it’s the center for other like-minded businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs. The area is easily accessible, with convenient transportation options and ample parking facilities making it convenient for customers and employees alike. All within walking distance, downtown’s charming streets are lined with a diverse range of complementary services, shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues, creating a creating a bustling atmosphere and strong community and culture of collaboration.

Lafayette Downtown Planning

With MKSK, the City of Lafayette created a plan to showcase the development opportunities in downtown Lafayette. Through decades of effort over several administrations, civic leaders, businesses and residents have made downtown a priority for revitalization. With preservation of its iconic one of a kind architecture, downtown has become a destination for commerce, living, arts and culture. With these strides, attention can be turned to vacant and under-utilized parcels for new development to complement existing buildings and properties. This plan identifies those with appropriate design ideas to spur the interest of local, regional and even national companies and developers.

Lafayette Placemaking

Lafayette’s downtown, its people, its businesses and its buildings, reflect the best of what a downtown main street community can be. It is how this community works together to leverage these assets into sustaining its shared places that will determine how Lafayette can thrive in the future. Historic Downtown Lafayette was clearly built with this ethic and common focus. The Placemaking process, principles and action items that this report summarizes are geared to galvanize a renewed energy to what Lafayette is already doing. The strength of a city is really built on how communities organize and evolve themselves at this community scale. Placemaking is often the most effective way of helping communities rise above isolated issues to forge a more compelling, integrated vision. Focusing on creating great places is perhaps the best way to create great communities.

Tippecanoe Housing Analysis & Strategy

The purpose of this regional housing analysis and strategy is to understand the current and future housing needs for all residents of Tippecanoe County. This includes ensuring the right housing options are available for the future workforce, while also utilizing finite land available for development in a fiscally sustainable manner. In partnership with, the Builders Association of Greater Lafayette and the Lafayette Regional Association of Realtors as well as our governmental partners West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County, we can address the demands for new and innovative housing choices that will further our goals for economic development and quality of life.

Greater Lafayette READI Housing Study

The primary purpose of this housing study is to outline strategies so all residents in the Greater Lafayette READI Region have housing choices and locations that meets their needs. From late 2022 through early 2023, community engagement, interviews, community tours, and a market analysis unveiled market gaps and desires of residents and stakeholders in the Greater Lafayette READI Region. The study combines this extensive public input process and analysis of the demographic and market trends to identify regional housing goals and strategies. Within this document, you will find an overview of the major findings within the market assessment and public engagement process along with detailed goals and strategies.

5 Points Plan

If you live in Lafayette, you know 5 Points. Five Points is a section of Lafayette that takes in part of four neighborhoods and includes a busy triangle of intersections bounded by Main, 18th and South streets. This iconic and historic commercial node is a community gateway to downtown. Within walking distance to downtown as well as to Columbian Park, Zoo and Loeb Stadium, this area is well positioned for unique forward-looking housing and commercial investments. Plans would call for mixed-use buildings, single family homes and new townhomes. You can view the city’s public presentation on the plan by clicking here.

Loeb Stadium

The $17 million transformation of Loeb Stadium takes its inspiration from the existing 1940s-era Art Deco architecture through the use of an architectural precast concrete colonnade, traditional brick facades, and exposed structural steel. Design elements were chosen to maximize the stadium’s use as a multi-purpose facility for baseball, soccer, concerts, and other community events. The design rotated the existing field 180 degrees to a preferred northeast orientation, moved home plate to the current center field area and shifted the stadium’s main entrance to the corner of Main and Wallace streets. The municipally owned stadium is home to the Prospect League’s Lafayette Aviators and the Lafayette Jefferson High School baseball team. Between lawn seating and stadium seating, the new facility features seating for 2,600 spectators with a large open concourse design where visitors can have an open view of game action at all times. Loeb Stadium is a multi-use facility hosting other sporting events like soccer, community events, family movie nights and concerts.

3rd & 4th Street Conversion Study

The City of Lafayette appointed American Structurepoint and MKSK to provide preliminary planning, conceptual design and public engagement services related to the two-way conversion of 3rd and 4th Streets in downtown Lafayette. The purpose of this study is to determine the operating conditions that will result from the proposed two way conversions and, where necessary, recommend improvements in order to enhance traffic operations and facilitate the development of a conceptual plan. The goal of this conversion is to create a vibrant downtown and improve mobility for all modes of transportation. “We are very pleased with the study provided by our partners to enhance the vision of our Downtown Lafayette Master Plan,” states Mayor Tony Roswarski. “We feel this plan will improve the flow of all modes of transportation along these streets with on-street parking and enhanced bicycle and pedestrian friendly facilities.”

Opportunity Zones

We anticipate substantial real estate and business attraction and expansion activity with Opportunity Zone designations. The City of Lafayette has been approached by multiple local and regional developers of urban mixed use projects with an interest in the downtown area. Downtown living is a strong attraction and filling once vacant buildings as well as new restaurants and arts and culture venues. It is envisioned to continue these trends and land uses encouraging urban high density development to create a vibrant, bustling, 24/7 active community. Other Lafayette projects include a variety of residential apartments and condominiums, retail and office space to accommodate a growing residential and business population. Find out how your investment can be leveraged to maximize your return.

Berlowitz Development and Alexander Ross Development Area Master Plans

The Julius Berlowitz Regulated Drain watershed is located on the east side of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The approximately 0.9 square mile watershed drains from southwest to northeast and is tributary to the South Fork of Wildcat Creek. The Master Plan report specifically addresses the “Upper” Berlowitz Regulated Drain watershed, an approximately 600-acre area located in the southwest portion of the overall watershed. The Alexander Ross Regulated Drain watershed is located on the east side of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The approximately 1 square mile watershed drains from southwest to northeast and is tributary to the South Fork of Wildcat Creek. This Master Plan report specifically addresses the approximately 340-acre portion of the watershed located west of Interstate 65.

Tax Abatement

The purpose of tax abatement is to encourage investment and the development of jobs as well as to promote other community objectives, such as affordable housing, which might not otherwise take place. In a global economy, tax abatement is often necessary to compete with other localities for job creation. Tax abatement is expected to result in a larger community tax base by attracting new businesses and jobs. In the long run this will increase available tax funds for community infrastructure improvements and growth. Abatement of tax dollars for new business and housing activities is one way to support continued growth in our community.

Tax Increment Financing

We want to ensure your success and be a working partner. Tax Increment Financing is one of many technical and financial resources available to you. The TIF District is a tool that allows cities to "capture" the increase in property tax revenue that may result from an improvement. The additional revenue is then dedicated to financing the improvement, or for other development activities within the district. Cities use TIF to finance public infrastructure and other improvements including sewer expansion and repair, curb and sidewalk work, storm drainage, traffic control, street construction and expansion, street lighting, park improvements, environmental remediation, bridge construction and repair, and parking structures. The city's TIF Districts are listed and mapped in the Lafayette TIF District Map.