MISHAWAKA — The sun beat down on a recent weekday as crews worked to level 29 acres of land at the southwest corner of Fir Road and the Indiana Toll Road for The Reserve, a new 390-unit luxury apartment complex.
Watermark Residential, a developer out of Indianapolis, announced the project in September, when it filed to annex the property into the city of Mishawaka and rezone it from agricultural to residential.
Once completed, the complex will feature units with separate entrances and garages, a clubhouse, an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center and at least one dog park.
Rents will range from $1,100 per month for a one-bedroom unit to $2,000 per month for a three-bedroom unit, well above the median of about $800 per month for a two-bedroom apartment in the area.
“We like the schools up there, and we like the fact that it’s close to new retail,” David Englert, director of acquisitions for Watermark, said. “And then up until recently, it was a pretty good story about a lack of supply of new apartments being delivered.”
The Reserve is among a slew of new projects as the local rental market rebounds from an extended down period, with developers projected to add 2,000 new units to the market by the end of next year — compared with just 205 the previous four years.