Construction thrives in West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Plans for several different apartment buildings are in the works for the city of West Lafayette and Purdue.

With construction season right around the corner, planned development projects are popping up all over the area.

Anybody who has driven down Chauncey Hill or out on Lindberg Road may have noticed a few housing construction projects well underway.

Right now, there are as many as seven different planned development projects in the works for the West Lafayette area. Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission Assistant Director Ryan O'Gara said the economy is the reason why we are suddenly seeing these projects pop up. He says when the recession hit, plans came to a halt.

"We had developers come in, bring us their concepts, and then they'd sort of disappear for awhile and then they'd come back and actually file to rezone the site and begin the project negotiations. So basically what we've seen is clearly that's an indication that, you know, banks are probably lending again," said O'Gara.

Most of these projects are apartment and housing buildings surrounding Purdue's campus. These projects are all in different stages of the building process. For some, construction is well underway, while others are still waiting to be approved by the area plan commission.

"What we're seeing is a host of projects that are interested in increasing densities near campus and really creating a neat, urban look," said O"Gara.

Assistant Director of Off-Campus Student Services Ashley Darnell said students are not obligated to live on-campus. he says if they choose to live off-campus, these new apartment buildings will give them more options.

"Not every student is going to find that the pro's of living on-campus are better than the pro's of living off-campus and they really have to balance those out," said Darnell.

Some of the projects are located in the Chauncey Hill area, Northwestern Avenue, Lindberg Road, and around State and Grant streets.

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Construction thrives in West Lafayette