WARSAW — Eighty-six new apartments in downtown Warsaw should be ready by the time Slate Auto revs up its new electric pickup production a year from now just west of Warsaw.

That little fact was aired at Tuesday’s groundbreaking for Millworks, which will offer market-rate apartments where the Owens Supermarket once stood.

The $21 million project will feature numerous amenities, including a rooftop deck, bike storage and pet-friendly facilities.    

There will be a courtyard in the middle, angled parking around the entire development, and a restaurant on the southeast corne of the lot.

The proposal faced numerous delays, and AP Development President Jon Anderson sounded eager to see construction commence.

He spoke at Tuesday's groundbreaking as a nearby construction crew began some initial work.

"I apologize for the noise, but that's why we're here. This project will go fast now ... Once we go vertical, it will go fast, and you will see it go up quickly. We plan to be open by this time next year if not sooner," Anderson said.

When complete, the apartment complex will make the downtown feel a little bigger, says Jeremy Skinner, the city's director of community and economic development.

"Our intent was to create housing opportunities, create density, and to support our downtown. This project does those three things," Skinner said.

Expanding housing options has been a top issue that took root under former mayor Joe Thallemer and into the Jeff Grose administration, as Slate and another orthopedic manufacturer, AutoCam, announced expansion plans earlier this year.

Millworks is one of two apartment projects currently under construction. The other is Union Lofts on Jefferson near Argonne Road and Winona Avenue.

[caption id="attachment_119964" align="alignright" width="220"] Peggy Friday[/caption]

Millworks will arrive at a good time as the community works to provide housing to a fast-growing workforce.

"Slate Auto will be opening at the end of 2026 for full production, so we really want those folks to live here and be engaged ... spend those dollars here in our community rather than leave the county," said Peggy Friday, the CEO of Kosciusko County Economic Development Corp.

Anderson was complimentary of the city's support, saying officials stood out mightily against other communities the company has worked with in the past.

Likewise, city officials said they found a good partner in AP Development for the project.

Funding came from several sources, including Indiana's Regional Development Authority (for $3 million) and money from the city of Warsaw.

Mayor Jeff Grose, whose family shopped at the Owen's store decades ago, thanked various people for their support in the project but said much of the credit goes to Skinner and former Mayor Joe Thallemer.

Thallemer also attended the ceremony and reflected on the lengthy efforts behind redeveloping the property.

"The moment it became available, that was the whole thought — that it would expand our urban core ... we had a great opportunity to get it done," Thallemer said.

Thallemer also tipped his hat to Rob and Nancy Gast, who owned a beloved bike shop behind the grocery store for many years.

"They owned a nice hunk of that property and they were very excited about the project and were willing to sell the old Tarkio Road bicycle shop," Thallmer added.

[caption id="attachment_119952" align="aligncenter" width="770"] An architectural rendering of the future Millworks apartments. Artwork provided.[/caption]

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SYRACUSE — Several hundred people packed the Oakwood Event for KEDCO’s annual dinner Wednesday night to hear Slate Auto’s CEO, Chris Barman, share insights into why the new electric vehicle company chose Warsaw for its manufacturing plant.

Barman is a Purdue University graduate and a native of Crown Point — just 90 miles west of Warsaw.

“Even though I’m from Indiana, there was never a time when I tried to put my thumb on the scale, and this community won outright," Barman said.

The Michigan-based company kept its plan under wraps as it developed a business model that would set it apart from other automakers.

"We wanted to find a manufacturing location where we knew that we were going to have a strong partnership in the community, but also we had to make sure that it really worked for us and our business plan,” Barman said.

"We didn’t share a lot about who we were. We actually approached the community with a project name. And I really appreciate that KEDCO and the community supported us even though they didn’t know who we were and what we were about and what we were going to build,” Barman said.

“And I’m sure there were things going through their minds like, is thing going to be some Chinese company that wants to come into our community?” she added.

What they've developed is intended to set it aside from the competition and is marketing it as an affordable, safe, reliable, and radically customizable vehicle that just happens to be electric.

The basic, stripped-down Slate models will sell for about $25,000 and are designed to be customized by the owner.

“We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never delivered,” she said.

The company is about one year away from ramping up production, but Barman said 100,000 vehicles have already been put on reserve, Barman said.

Kosciusko County’s initial discussions with Slate included the late County Council President Mike Long who died months later in February of this year in an accident at home. 

KEDCO and Slate both recognized Long’s role in discussion and his efforts to lure the company to Kosciusko County.

"He was so excited about the prospect of Slate that he wanted to be the first to buy a truck off the lot,” said Peggy Friday, executive director of KEDCO, who headed up negotiations with Slate.

Wednesday's event marked the first of three days of high-profile events involving Slate in Warsaw.

Later, on Thursday, the company will host tours of its reconfigured facility on Old Road 30 for guests.

On Friday, the company will host a public block party in downtown Warsaw

The post Slate Auto CEO says presale orders have reached 100,000 vehicles appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — Slate Auto has confirmed plans to convert the old RR Donnelley and Sons facility on Old Road 30 into a factory for electric vehicles.

The company reached out to local media on Tuesday in a news release after News Now Warsaw and the Times-Union highlighted reports on Monday that the company was looking at the old printing plant in Warsaw.

The update comes one week after the electric vehicle company unveiled an innovative business model that seeks to offer significantly less expensive electric vehicles compared to what's currently available n the US auto market.

In an email, Slate stipulated three facts:

• Slate’s factory in Warsaw is part of Slate's commitment to reindustrialization. The brownfield site is a former catalog factory that shuttered in 2023.
• Slate plans to bring over 2,000 jobs to Warsaw. Slate will more than return the number of jobs lost when the factory was closed.
• The first Slate vehicles are expected to be produced in Warsaw in 2026.

Slate is a new American company established in 2022 that is focused on delivering radically affordable, personalizable and reliable electric vehicles.

Slate is an innovative truck platform so customizable that it can transform from a 2-seat pickup to a 5-seat SUV. Slate was founded on a disruptive business model of simplifying the manufacturing process and reindustrializing America.

RR Donnelley was a major employer for decades in Warsaw, but sold the local plant about nine years ago to LSC Communications, which then closed operations about two years ago.

Look for more details and public reaction to the announcement on Wednesday at newsnowwarsaw.com.

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