The Old West End as a Model for Housing Redevelopment
Op-Ed by Jud Fisher
Muncie, IN – Muncie’s Old West End (OWE) is on the cusp of major redevelopment. Empty lots have plans attached to them, long-vacant properties – many that have cycled through the tax sale repeatedly over the past 10-15 years – have been mapped for future use, and the community has aligned around a vision for what’s next. Block by block, a historic neighborhood adjacent to downtown Muncie is gaining new life.
This is the result of steady, community-led work that has been building for years, and it offers an important look at how communities across Indiana can take on the challenges of housing redevelopment with patience and partnership.
More than 30 new homes will soon rise in the OWE, alongside the rehabilitation of several existing properties. A combination of affordable and market-rate housing options will strengthen the fabric of the neighborhood over the long term. Of the state’s READI 2.0 award to East Central Indiana, $3.2 million is designated to the Old West End, helping expedite redevelopment work that otherwise may have taken decades to advance. This momentum builds on a foundation carefully laid over time through planning that brought together neighborhood residents, local organizations, and insights gained from Ball State University urban planning students whose surveys, assessments, and community engagement helped shape redevelopment strategies.
Jud Fisher, BBF President & CEO with Nate Howard, Muncie Land Bank Executive Director
In less than a decade since its founding, the Muncie Land Bank has become a statewide—and increasingly national—model for tackling vacancy and abandonment. Its work includes acquiring vacant and abandoned properties, stabilizing them, and returning them to productive use. With support from Ball Brothers Foundation, the Land Bank acquired the first 12 properties in the development site, an investment that proved pivotal in later being awarded 22 additional tax-delinquent properties from the Delaware County Commissioners in the target area.
The Muncie Land Bank’s approach starts by listening to and understanding resident priorities before taking on properties that have often sat vacant for years. Their work is rarely glamorous. It requires patience, detailed property research, careful acquisition, and the long process of stabilizing lots one by one. But this is exactly the kind of foundational work that allows large-scale, thoughtful redevelopment—like the Old West End effort—to take shape. That momentum has been strengthened by the collaborative efforts of the Old West Development Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits and neighborhood leaders working to keep redevelopment coordinated, transparent, and aligned with community priorities.
The Land Bank’s progress has been made possible by residents who speak honestly about what they envision for their neighborhood and by city and county partners who champion this work. Over many years, this process has paved the way for the major investments we’re seeing today.
Ball Brothers Foundation has believed in the Land Bank’s mission from the very beginning. When the Muncie Land Bank was first formed, Ball Brothers Foundation provided seed funding to help launch its operations. In the years since, we’ve continued to offer operating support because we believe in what they’re building, and how they’re building it.
As a private foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life in Muncie, we know that vacant and abandoned housing in neighborhoods is a critical issue, and we share the community’s concern. Initial funding for the Muncie Land Bank was rooted in our approach to providing “patient capital.” True revitalization takes time. It requires persistence and funding that supports long-term community strategies over multiple years rather than quick fixes. The Land Bank’s work is restoring confidence in neighborhoods and returning properties to uses that strengthen the community.
The Old West End’s redevelopment is part of a larger, decades-long community effort to rebuild Muncie’s urban core. For the past thirteen years, Ball Brothers Foundation has focused significant investment on downtown Muncie and adjacent neighborhoods through our Quality of Place initiative. We’ve watched as downtown has steadily transformed into an increasingly lively hub of restaurants, events, and activity. Apartments are full. People want to live downtown. Because of this, attention has naturally shifted to surrounding neighborhoods like the Old West End that hold great promise.
Revitalizing the OWE connects the vibrancy of downtown to an adjacent residential neighborhood with historic homes and a strong sense of place. This redevelopment will further stabilize housing, attract new residents, and encourage mixed-income opportunities. It is the kind of catalytic neighborhood investment that supports population growth and long-term economic vitality.
Solving complex housing challenges requires deep relationships and coordination. Instead of piecemeal projects scattered across a map, it’s a shift to block-by-block reinvestment shaped by residents who know their neighborhood best.
There is power in patience. It takes years of collaboration between local nonprofits, city/county government, developers, and neighbors.
The benefits of this type of effort ripple far beyond a single street or block. The progress we’re seeing in the OWE gives me great hope. It reflects a community that believes in itself, works together, and is willing to invest the time and care needed to make real change happen.
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About Ball Brothers Foundation:
Ball Brothers Foundation is one of the state’s oldest and largest family foundations. Annually, the foundation pays out more than $8 million in grants to support arts and culture, education, the environment, health, human services, and public/society benefit. The Muncie-based private foundation gives priority to projects and programs that improve the quality of life in the foundation’s home city, county, and state.