Harrison Square: Downtown Fort Wayne to get a new ballpark for the Wizards. Also condos, retail and a hotel.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: REGIONAL REPORT NORTHEAST

SITE WORK IS UNDER WAY and the bases about to be loaded at the 16-acre, $125 million Harrison Square development along Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street in downtown Fort Wayne

Soon to be on first base: a minor league stadium for the Fort Wayne Wizards, With a condominium/retail building at second and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel on third.

The L-shaped, multi-block development will be a home-team success long in planning, says Greg Leatherman, redevelopment director for the city of Fort Wayne.

"It was extremely challenging," he says. "In the last four to five years, we've been working hard to create an environment downtown that is receptive and inviting to private investment. We were planning for growth and development when the Wizards went up for sale."

Approached by a group With interests in both baseball and urban development, "need met opportunity," Leatherman says. Plans took shape, "and here we are today."

A key player--in the project, not on the field is Chris Schoen, now one of the owners of the Wizards and a senior executive at Atlanta-based Hardball Capital, a company that invests in and operates baseball-related businesses. Schoen also owns Atlanta-headquartered Barry Real Estate Companies, which is developing the condominium and retail complex at the site.

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The city's Redevelopment Commission acquired and assembled the real estate for the project, which included property with several different zoning classifications, Leatherman says. "Now, it's all zoned for downtown mixed use."

Eight businesses and 23 houses have been cleared from the property The city is issuing a general obligation bond to cover its share of the $125 million price tag; $61 million in private money rounds out the funds.

The ballpark, condo/retail project and a 900-space, $14 million parking deck with stadium seating on top are slated to open in April 2009. Construction of the hotel is scheduled to begin in spring 2008 and take 16 months to build.

Not just for baseball. "This will be the most innovative minor league stadium in America," says Jim Irwin, project manager for Harrison Square and a principal in Barry Real Estate. "The owners have visited over 60 minor league stadiums and are putting all the best ideas into this one stadium."

Hardball Capital is contributing $6 million toward the $31 million, city-owned stadium and will operate it for the city Its 16 private suites have already sold out, to buyers such as Indiana Michigan...